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TOPOGRAPHICAL  AND  HISTORICAL 

SKETCHES 


OF  THE 


TOWN    OF    NORTHBOROUGH, 


WITH  THE 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF 


'Amm^®m®w@u* 


IN  THE 


(ftommoutoealtlj  of  J&assacljuscttss, 


FURNISHED    FOR    THE 


WORCESTER  MAGAZINE. 


BY  REV.  JOSEPH  AXaLEN, 

PASTOR  OF  THE  CHURCH  IN  NORTHBOROUGH,  AND  MEMBER  OF   THE 
WORCESTER    COUNTY    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 


WORCESTER: 

PUBLISHED  8Y  W.  LINCOLN  &  C,  C.  BALDWIN, 

CHARLES    GRIFFIN PRINTER. 

1826. 


F1 


7/B 


HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROUGH. 


IN  orthborough,  though  one  of  the  youngest  and  smallest  incor- 
porated towns  in  the  County  of  Worcester,  was,  for  nearly  50  years, 
prior  to  the  date  of  its  incorporation,  a  part  of  Westborough  ;  first 
as  part  of  an  undivided  whole,  and  then  as  a  separate  precinct  or 
parish.  This  carries  us  hack  to  the  year  1717,  before  which  time, 
Westborough  itself,  including  Northborough,  belonged  to  the  large 
and  ancient  town  of  Marlborough.  Northborough  then,  as  being 
included  in  Marlborough,  may  lay  claim  to  considerable  antiquity. 
Marlborough  was  incorporated  in  1660,  only  about  30  years  after 
the  commencement  of  the  Massachusetts  Colony.  The  stream  of 
emigration  may  easily  be  traced  back  from  this,  which  was  for  ma- 
ny years  a  frontier  settlement,  bordering  upon  the  unexplored  wil- 
derness, to  the  fountain  head.  The  settlement  in  Marlborough  was 
commenced  four  years  before  the  date  of  its  incorporation,  by  emi- 
grants from  Sudbury,  which  was  older  by  about  20  years  than 
Marlborough,  having  been  incorporated  in  1638.  The  next  step 
carries  us  back  to  Concord,  which  was  purchased  of  the  natives 
and  incorporated  in  1635.* 

The  next  step  brings  us  to  Watertown,  where  a  settlement  wa3 
made  in  1630,  the  same  year  that  Boston  began  to  be  built.  It  was 
in  this  year  that  a  large  number  of  emigrants  arrived  from  England, 
which  served  greatly  to  enlarge  and  strengthen  the  Colony,  then 
in  its  infancy.  The  oldest  town  in  the  Massachusetts  Colony  is  Sa- 
lem, where  a  settlement  was  commenced  in  1628,  eight  years  after 
the  landing  of  our  fathers  at  Plymouth. 

*  1.  Mass.  Hist.  Col.  Vol.  I. 
1 


M527521 


4  HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROUGH. 

Thus  we  see  that  within  the  short  space  of  30  years  from  the 
first  planting  of  this  Colony,  the  wilderness  had  been  explored,  and 
a  permanent  settlement  effected,  by  our  enterprising  forefathers, 
in  the  ancient  town  of  Marlborough,  which  then  included  Westbo- 
rough,  Southborough,  and  Northborough,  now  within  the  limits  of 
Worcester  County. 

It  will  not  therefore  be  improper  to  prefix  to  the  history  of  this 
town  some  account  of  the  first  settlement  and  early  history  of  the 
Plantation  at  Marlborough. 

The  following  petition  was  presented  to  the  General  Court 
in  May,  1656. 

"To  the  Hon.  Governor,  Dep.  Governor,  Magistrates  and  Depu- 
ties of  the  General  Court  now  assembled  in  Boston." 

"The  humble  petition  of  several  of  the  Inhabitants  of  Sudbu- 
ry, whose  names  are  hereunder  written,  humbly  sheweth  ;  that 
whereas  your  petitioners  have  lived  divers  years  in  Sudbury,  and 
God  hath  beene  pleased  to  increase  our  children,  which  are  now 
divers  of  them  grown  to  man's  estate,  and  wee,  many  of  us,  grown 
into  years,  so  as  that  wee  should  bee  glad  to  see  them  settled  be- 
fore the  Lord  take  us  away  from  hence,  as  also  God  having  given 
us  some  considerable  quantity  of  cattle,  so  that  wee  are  so  streigh- 
tened  that  wee  cannot  so  comfortably  subsist  as  could  bee  desired  ; 
and  some  of  us  having  taken  some  pains  to  view  the  country  ;  wee 
have  found  a  place  which  lyeth  westward,  about  eight  miles  from 
Sudbury,  which  wee  conceive  might  bee  comfortable  for  our  sub- 
sistence : 

"It  is  therefore  the  humble  request  of  your  Petitioners  to  this 
Hon'd  Court,  that  you  would  bee  pleased  to  grant  unto  us  (  ) 
eight  miles  square,  or  so  much  land  as  may  containe  to  eight  miles 
square,  for  to  make  a  plantation. 

"If  it  shall  please  this  Hon'd  Court  to  grant  our  petition,  it  is 
farther  than  the  request  of  your  petitioners  to  this  Hon'd  Court, 
that  you  will  bee  pleased  to  appoint  Mr.  Thomas  Danforth  or  Lies- 
ten01  Fisher  to  lay  out  the  bounds  of  the  Plantation;  and  wee 
shall  satisfy  those  whom  this  Hon'd  Court  shall  please  to  employ  in 
it.  So  apprehending  this  weighty  occasion,  wee  shall  no  farther 
trouble  this  Hon'd  Court,  but  shall  ever  pray  for  your  happinesse." 
Edmond  Rice,  Thomas  King,  William  Ward, 

John  How,*  John  Bent,  Sen'r.      John  Maynard, 

*  According  to  a  tradition  handed  down  in  the  family,  the  first  English 
person  that  cam*;  to  reside  in  Marlborough,  was  John  How,  son  of  a  How,  of 
Watertown,  supposed  to  be  John  How,  Esq.  who  came  from  Warwickshire,  in 


HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROUGH.  0 

John  Woods,  Edward  Rice,  John  Ruddocke, 

Richard  Newton,      Peter  Bent,  Henry  Rice, 

Thomas  Goodenow. 
"That  this  is  a  true  copy  of  the   original  petition  presented  to 
the  General  Court,  May,  1656,  left  on  file  and  thereto  compared,  is 
Attested,        per     Edward  Rawson,  Sec'n/." 
To  this  petition  the  following  answer  was  made. 
At  a  General  Court  held  in  Boston,  May  14,  1756. 

"In  answer  to  the  petition  of  the  aforesaid  inhabitants  of  Sudbury, 
the  Court  judgeth  it  meete  to  grant  them  a  proportion  of  land  of 
six  miles,  or  otherwise,  in  some  convenient  form  equivalent  there- 
unto, at  the  discretion  of  the  committee  in  the  place  desired,  pro- 
vided it  hinder  no  former  grant,  that  there  bee  a  Towne  settled 
with  twenty  or  more  families  within  three  years,  so  as  an  able  min- 
istry may  bee  there  maintained.  And  it  is  ordered  that  Mr.  Ed- 
ward Jackson,  Capt.  Eleazer  Lusher,  Ephruim  Child,  with  Mr. 
Thomas  Danforth,  or  Liesten"1  Fisher,  shall  bee,  and  hereby  are  ap- 
pointed as  a  committee  to  lay  out  the  bounds  thereof,  and  make 
return  to  the  next  Court  of  Election,  or  else  the  grant  to  bee  void. 
"This  is  a  true  copy  taken  out  of  the  Court's  Books  of  Records, 
as  Attests  Edward  Rawson,  Seer'?/." 

England,  and  who,  as  appears  from  a  record  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Adam 
How,  of  Sudbury,  also  a  descendant  of  John,  was  himself  the  son  of  John 
How,  of  Hodinhull.  and  connected  with  the  family  of  Lord  Charles  How, 
Earl  of  Lancaster,  in  the  rti^n  of  Charles  I. 

Mr.  How  came  from  Watertown  to  Marlborough,  built  a  cabin  a  little  to 
the  east  of  the  Indian  Planting  field,  where  his  descendants  lived  fot 
many  generations.  By  his  prudence  and  kindness,  he  gained  the  good  will 
and  confidence  of  his  savage  neighbors,  who  accordingly  made  him  the  um- 
pire in  all  their  differences. 

The  following  is  related  as  one  of  the  verdicts  of  this  second  Solomon. 
Two  Indians,  whose  corn  fields  were  contiguous,  disputed  about  the  posses- 
sion of  a  pumpkin,  which  grew  on  a  vine,  that  had  transgressed  the  limits  of 
the  field  in  which  it  was  planted.  The  vine  was  planted  in  one  field  ;  the 
pumpkin  grew  in  the  other.  The  dispute  grew  warm,  and  might  have  led  to 
serious  consequences,  had  it  not  occurred  to  them  to  refer  the  matter  in  de- 
bate to  the  arbitration  of  the  white  man,  their  neighbor.  Mr.  How  is  accord- 
ingly sent  for,  who  after  having  given  a  patient  hearing  to  both  parties,  directs 
them  to  bring  him  a  knife,  with  which  he  divides  the  pumpkin  into  two  equal 
parts,  giving  half  to  each.  Both  parties  extol  the  equity  of  the  judge,  and 
readily  acquiesce  in  the  decision,  pleased,  no  doubt,  quite  as  much  with  the 
manuer  in  which  the  thing  was  done,  as  in  admiration  of  the  justice  of 
the  deed. 

The  descendants  of  John  How  are  very  numerous  in  Marlborough,  and  in 
the  towns  in  the  vicinity.  There  are  28  of  the  name  of  How  on  the  list  of 
voters,  in  Marlborough,  for  the  present  year. 

Col.  Thomas  How  was  a  son  of  the  above,  who,  for  many  years,  was  one 
of  the  leading  men  in  the  town.  John  How  died  sometime  before  1686,  as 
appears  by  a  deed  of  his  son  Josiah  to  Thomas,  of  that  date.  Rev.  Perley 
How,  of  Surry,  N.H.  was  a  descendant  ef  John,  and  of  Col.  Thomas  How. 


D  HISTORY  OF  HORTHBOROUGH. 

The  Plantation  was  accordingly  soon  commenced  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Ockoocangansett,  (the  Indian  name  of  the  hill  back  of 
the  old  Meeting  House  in  Marlborough,)  and  thence  extending  to 
Whipsuppenicke,  (a  hill  about  a  mile  southeasterly  of  the  former,) 
and  the  neighboring  parts.  By  this  name,  Whipsuppenicke,  or 
Whipsufferadge,  as  it  was  sometimes  written,  the  English  Planta- 
tion of  Marlborough  was  known,  till  its  incorporation,  in  1660. 

Of  the  Indian  Plantation  at  Marlborough,  called,  from  the  hill 
abovenamed,  Ockoocangansett,  some  account  will  be  given  here- 
after. 

A  plan  of  the  English  plantation  was  made  in  May,  1667,  by 
Samuel  Andrews,  surveyor,  which  was  approved  by  the  Deputies, 
17th  3mo.  1667.  Wm.  Torrey,  Clerk. 

Consented  to  by  the  Magistrates.  Edward  Rawson,  Sec'y. 

This  plan  was  made  on  parchment  on  a  scale  of  two  inches  to 
a  mile,  and  is  now  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Silas  Gates  of  Marlborough. 

The  plantation  contained  by  admeasurement  29,419  acres,  which, 
with  the  6000  acres  reserved  for  the  Indians,  of  which  we  shall 
presently  speak,  amounted  to  35,419  acres.  The  Indian  planting 
field,  on  Ockoocangansett,  the  hill  back  of  where  the  old  meet- 
ing house  stood,  was  included  within  the  bounds  of  the  English 
plantation,  and  formed  a  square  containing  about  two  hundred 
acres.  From  the  northwestern  angle  of  this  field  the  boundary  line 
between  the  Indian  plantation  on  the  east,  and  the  English  plan- 
tation on  the  west,  extends  three  miles  north,  seven  degrees 
west,  to  a  point  a  little  beyond  the  river  Assabett*.  From  this 
point  the  boundary  line  runs  seven  miles  west,  twenty  five  de- 
grees south,  (cutting  off  what  is  now  the  northwest  angle  of 
Northborough,  and  which  forms  what  are  called  the  New  Grants.) 
Thence  five  miles  south-southeast,  to  the  south  west  extremity  of 
the  plantation;  thence  two  miles  and  three-fourths  of  a  mile  east, 
nine  degrees  north,  leading  into  Cedar  swamp;  thence  southeast, 
two  hundred  and  fifty  six  rods  on  Sudbury  River ;  thence  two  miles 
and  three  quarters,  due  east;  thence  two  miles  and  one  hundred 
and  twenty  rods  northeast,  thirteen  degrees  north  ;  thence   three 

*This  name  is  written  and  spoken  variously  by  different  persons.  In  the 
report  of  the  Canal  Commissioners  presented  at  the  recent  session  of  the  Le- 
gislature of  this  State,  it  is  written  Elsebeth,  and  is  supposed  to  be  a  corrup- 
tion of  Elisabeth.  By  some  aged  persons,  it  is  called  Elsebeth. ;  in  Whitney's 
Hist.  Jlssabet.  In  the  earliest  records  of  Marlborough,  however,  it  is  almost 
uniformly  written  with  a  final  h,  Jlsabeth  or  Assabelh.  If  either  of  the  two 
last  letters  are  omitted,  it  should  probably  bt  the  t.  In  which  case  the  name 
would  be  Jlssabeh. 


HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROUGH.  7 

hundred  and  forty  eight  rods  north,  seventeen  degrees  east;  thence 
one  mile  and  three  fourths  of  a  mile  due  north,  which  reaches  to 
the  Indian  line  ;  then  three  miles,  due  west,  on  this  line,  which 
completes  the  boundaries  of  the  English  plantation. 

It  would  seem,  from  the  above  account,  that  the  proprietors  ex- 
ceeded the  limits  of  their  grant  by  more  than  6000  acres.  We  are 
not  to  conclude,  however,  that  they  acted  fraudulently  in  this  bu- 
siness;  since  it  appears  that  the  draft  of  the  plantation  was  present- 
ed to  the  General  Court  for  their  acceptance,  and  approved  by  the 
Deputies  and  Magistrates. 

The  form  of  the  plantation  was  evidently  regulated  by  a  regard 
to  the  surface  and  soil.  Thus  the  boundary  lines  on  the  north  and 
west  included  all  the  meadows  on  the  Assabeth,  west  of  the  Indian 
plantation,  and  the  extensive  intervale,  including  several  large 
meadows  and  cedar  swamps,  which  runs  through  nearly  the  whole 
extent  of  iN"orthborough  and  VVestborough.  The  boundaries  on  the 
south  and  ea^t  were  also  fixed  with  the  same  sagacity  and  foresight. 

It  is  said  that  the  meadows,  at  the  first  settlement  of  our  country, 
produced  much  larger  crops  of  grass,  of  a  much  better  qualit}',  than 
at  the  present  day.  This  circumstance,  together  with  the  difficul- 
ty of  subduing  the  uplands,  will  account  for  the  eagerness  manifest- 
ed by  the  first  settlers  to  possess  a  good  supply  of  meadow  grounds.* 

The  first  meeting  of  the  proprietors  of  the  English  plantation, 
was  holden  25th  of  the  Vllth  month  (September)  1656.1 

In  1657,  the  following  eight  names  are  found  among  the  propri- 
etors, in  addition  to  the  thirteen  original  petitioners  above  men- 
tioned, making  up  the  number  of  twenty  one. 

*  It  appears  from  the  early  records  of  Marlborough,  that  for  many  years 
after  its  incorporation,  the  town  'was  grtatly  infested  by  wolves  and  rattle- 
snakes. 

In  a  single  year,  (1683)  the  town  paid  a  bounty  for  no  fewer  than  twenty 
three  wolves.  In  1680,  the  following  record  was  made.  "  Voted,  to  raise 
thirteen  men  to  go  out  to  cil  rattehnakes,  eight  to  Cold  Harbour-ward,  and  so 
to  the  other  place  they  cal  boston,  (now  the  northwestern  corner  of  West- 
borough)  and  five  to  Stoney  Brook-ward,  to  the  places  thereabout.  John 
Brigham  to  cal  out  seven  with  him  to  the  first,  and  Joseph  Newton  four  with 
him,  to  the  latter,  and  they  were  to  have  two  shillings  apiece  per  day,  paid 
out  of  a  town  rates." 

f'Sept.  25th-  1656.  Upon  amitinge  of  the  petitioners  apoynted  to  take 
sum  course  to  lay  out  the  plantation  granted  to  several  inhabitants  of  Sudbu- 
ry, it  was  ordered  that  all  that  doe  take  up  lottes  in  that  plantation  shall  pay 
all  publique  charges  that  shall  arise  upon  that  plantation,  according  to  their 
house  lottes  and  to  be  resident  there  in  two  years  or  set  in  a  man  that  the 
town  shall  aprove  one,  or  else  too  loose  their  lotts  ;  but  if  God  shall  take 
away  any  man  by  death,  he  have  liberty  to  give  his  lott  to  whom  he  will." 


8  HISTORY  OF  NORTHEOROUUH. 

William  Kerly,  Samuel  Rice,  Peter  King, 

John  Rediat,  John  Johnson,  Christopher  Banister. 

Solomon  Johnson,  Thomas  Rice, 

"  At  a  meeting  of  the  proprietors  of  this  plantation  the  26th  of 
Xber,  (December)  1659. 

u  It  is  ordered  that  all  such  as  lay  clayme  to  any  interest  in  this 
new  plantation  at  Wbipsuffe  radge,  (by  the  Indians  called  Whipsup- 
penicke)  are  to  perfect  their  house  lots  by  the  25th  of  March  next 
insueing,  or  else  to  loose  all  their  interest  in  the  aforesaid  planta- 
tion." 

Agreeably  to  this  order,  thirty  eight  house  lots,  including  one 
for  a  minister,  and  one  for  a  smith,  were  set  off,  and  granted  to  the 
proprietors,  the  26th  of  Nov.  1660. 

Besides  the  persons  already  mentioned,  the  following  had  house 
lots  assigned  to  them,  at  this  date. 

Joseph  Rice,  Richard  Ward,  John  Barrett, 

John  How,  Jr.  Benjamin  Rice,  Jos.  Holmes, 

Henry  Kerley,  John  Bellows,  Samuel  How, 

Richard  Barns,  Abraham  How,  Henry  Axtell, 

Andrew  Belcher,  Tho.  Goodenow,  Jr.  John  Newton. 

Obediah  Ward,  John  Rutter, 

These  thirty  eight  house  lots,  amounting  in  all  to  992^  acres 
consisted  of  some  of  the  hest  and  most  commodious  tracts  of  land  in 
Marlborough.  They  contained  from  fifty  to  fifteen  acres  each,  ac- 
cording to  the  interest  of  the  several  proprietors  in  the  plantation' 
The  principal  part  of  the  land,  which  was  not  taken  up  for  house 
lots,  with  the  exception  of  Chauncey,  (now  Westborough  and  North- 
borough,)  was  left  common  (called  Cow  Commons)  to  be  disposed  of 
by  subsequent  grants. 

The  following  boundaries  were  assigned  to  the  Cow  Commons  in 
1662. 

"  From  John  Alcocks  line  (now  known  by  the  name  of  the 
Farm)  to  Stoney  Brook  ;  thence  up  the  brook  to  Crane  Meadow, 
and  so  along  to  Stirrup  Meadow  Brook,  and  to  be  extended  as  the 
Brooke  runs  to  Assibathe  River,  and  down  the  said  river  till  it 
comes  to  the  Indian  line.  This  is,  and  shall  remain  a  perpetual 
Cow  Com-rnon  for  the  use  of  this  town,  never  to  bee  altered  with- 
out the  consent  of  all  the  inhabitants  and  proprietors  thereof  at  a 
full  meeting ;  excepting  four  score  acres  of  upland  this  town  hath 
reserved  within  the  aforesaid  tract  of  land  to  accommodate  some 
such  desirable  persons  withall  as  need  may  require,  opportunity 
present,  and  the  town  accept." 


HISTORY  OV  NORTHEOROUGH. 


A  vote  was  passed  at  a  meeting  of  the  proprietors  in  1705,  to 
divide  the  Cow  Commons  among  the  original  proprietors  and  such 
as  had  acquired  rights  in  the  plantation,  in  proportion  to  the  first 


grants. 


So  early  as  1660,  it  appears  that  measures  had  been  adopted  by 
the  proprietors  of  Marlborough,  for  the  maintenance  of  public  wor- 
ship ;  and  that  Mr.  William  Brimsmead,  afterwards  ordained  as 
their  pastor,  was  employed  as  a  preacher. 

In  the  following  year,  they  voted  to  build  a  house  for  their 
minister;  and,  in  1662,  the  frame  of  a  house,  with  the  house  lot  on 
which  it  stood,  were  granted  to  Wm.  Brimsmead,  Minister.* 

In  1662,  a  rate  was  made  of  12  pence  per  acre  upon  all  house 
lots  for  building  a  Meeting  House  ;  and  again,  in  1664,  of  3J  pence 
per  acre  for  finishing  the  house.  This  house,  which  was  after- 
wards burnt  by  the  Indians,  stood  on  the  old  common,  within  the 
limits  of  the  Indian  planting  field,  which,  Hutchinson  says,  "caused 
great  disputes  and  discouragements."! 

It  appears  from  the  following  record,  that  the  land  on  which 
the  Meeting  House  was  erected  was  afterwards  purchased  of  an 
Indian,  whose  title  to  the  land  was  probably  disputed  by  his  breth- 
ren of  the  Indian  Plantation. 

"  1663,  April  4.  Anamaks,  an  Indian  of  Whipsuppenicke,  for 
divers  reasons  and  considerations,  sold  to  John  Ruddock  and  John 
How,  for  the  use  of  the  town  of  Marlborough,  the  land  that  the 
Meeting  House  now  stands  on — also  the  land  for  the  highway  on 
the  fore  side  of  said  Meeting  House,  and  so  upon  a  square  of  ten 
feet,  round  about  the  said  Meeting  House."  This  land,  with  the 
addition  of  half  an  acre  purchased  in  1688.  of  Daniel,  Samuel,  and 
Nathaniel  Gookin,  sons  of  Maj.  Gen.  Daniel  Gookin,  of  Cambridge, 
constitutes  what  is  now  the  old  common,  the  whole  of  which  did 

*The  house  built  for  Mr.  Brimsmead  stood  on  the  lot  of  land  west  of  Ock- 
oocangansett,  not  far  from  the  spot  on  which  the  old  Meeting  House  was  af- 
terwards erected.  There  is  a  tradition  tbat  Mr.  Brimsmead's  house  was  set 
on  fire  by  the  Indians  in  King  Philip's  war,  and  that  the  flames  communicated 
with  the  Meeting  House,  which  was  the  occasion  of  its  being  burnt. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  the  antiquary  to  learn  the  form  and  dimensions  of 
a  dwelling  house  erected  more  than  160  years  since.  It  was  36  ft.  by  Iff  ft. 
and  12£  ft.  high  between  the  joints.  It  had  four  windows  in  front,  and  two 
at  the  west  end.  It  had  besides  two  gables  in  front,  10  ft.  wide  and  8  ft. 
square,  (projecting  8  ft.)  with  two  small  windows  on  the  front  side  of  the  ga- 
bles. It  was  built  by  contract  for  £15,  to  be  paid  in  corn  ;  one  third  wheat, 
one  third  rye,  and  one  third  Indian  corn.  Wheat  at  4s.  Gd.  rye  at  4*.  and 
Indian  com  at  3s.  per  bushel.  For  the  payment  of  this  sum,  a  rate  was  made 
of  7-J  pence  per  acre  upon  all  house  lots  in  the  Plantation. 

t  Hist.  Col,  I.  p.  167. 


10  HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROUGH. 

not  come  into  the  possession  of  the  town  till  1706,  when  the  half 
acre  above  mentioned  was  purchased  by  Abraham  Williams  and 
Joseph  Rice,  "for  the  use  of  the  town,  to  set  a  Meeting  House  on." 

Till  1675,  nothing  serious  appears  to  have  occurred  to  inter- 
rupt the  prosperity  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  flourishing  settlement. 
But  their  prosperity  received  a  severe  check  in  the  war  which 
now  ensued.  After  the  destruction  of  Lancaster,  (Feb.  10,  1676, 
O.  S.)  a  party  of  the  enemy  directed  their  course  through  Marlbo- 
rough, where  they  committed  some  depredations,  on  their  way  to 
Sudbury  and  Medfield,  in  the  latter  of  which  places  nearly  50  dwel- 
ling houses  were  burnt,  and  15  persons  lost  their  lives. 

A  second  attack  was  made  upon  the  English  settlement  at  Marl- 
borough, on  the  20th  of  the  following  month,  which,  though  no 
lives  were  lost,  was  attended  with  more  disastrous  consequences. 
It  was  Lord's  day ;  and  the  inhabitants  were  assembled  for  public 
worship,  when  the  preacher,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Brimsmead,  was  inter- 
rupted in  the  midst  of  his  discourse  by  the  appalling  cry,  that  the 
Indians  were  advancing  upon  them.  The  Assembly  instantly  dis- 
persed ;  and,  with  a  single  exception,*  succeeded  in  reaching  the 
neighboring  garrison  house  in  safety  before  the  enemy  came  up. 
But  though  they  defended  themselves,  they  could  afford  no  protection 
to  their  property,  much  of  which  was  wasted  or  destroyed.  Their 
Meeting  House  and  many  of  their  dwelling  houses  were  burned  to 
the  ground  ;  their  fruit  trees  hacked  and  pilled  ;  their  cattle  killed 
or  maimed,  so  that  marks  of  their  ravages  were  visible  for  many 
vears. 

The  alarm  occasioned  by  this  attack,  and  the  defenceless  state 
to  which  the  inhabitants  were  reduced,  led  them  to  retire  from  the 
place,  and  to  seek  shelter  in  a  more  populous  neighborhood.  Short- 
ly after  the  close  of  the  war,  which  lasted  little  more  than  a  year, 
they  returned  to  their  farms,  and  were  permitted  for  many  years 
to  cultivate  them  in  peace.! 

*  The  person  to  -whom  allusion  is  here  made  was  Moses  Newton,  grand- 
father of  the  late  Deac.  Paul  Newton,  of  this  town.  Being  detained  behind 
the  rest  in  the  benevolent  attempt  to  rescue  an  aged  and  infirm  female,  who 
would  otherwise  have  been  exposed  to  certain  destruction,  he  received  a  ball 
in  his  elbow,  which  deprived  him  in  a  measure  of  the  use  of  his  arm  ever  af- 
ter. Solomon  Newton,  a  grandson  of  the  above,  is  now  living:,  (1826)  aged 
92  years,  with  his  son,  Willard  Newton,  Esq.  in  Southborough,  on  the  farm 
taken  up  by  his  great-grand-father,  Richard  Newton,  nearly  170  years  ago. 
Richard  came  from  England,  and  was  one  of  the  13  original  proprietors  of 
Marlborough.  Richard  had  three  sons,  Moses,  Ezekiel  and  John.  Moses 
was  the  father  of  eight  sons  and  two  daughters,  viz.  Moses,  Jonathan,  James. 
Josiah,  David,  Edward,  Hannah,  Mercy,  Jacob,  and  Ebenezer. 

t  There  are  no  records  in  the  Proprietors1  Books  of  what  took  place  be- 


HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROUGH.  1 1 

Soon  after  their  return,  they  proceeded  to  the  erection  of  a  new- 
Meeting  House,  which,  like  the  former,  was  thatched  with  straw, 
or  rather  a  species  of  tall  grass,  taken  from  the  meadow  since  cal- 
led, from  that  circumstance,  Thatch  Meadow.  This  building,  which 
was  left  in  an  unfinished  state,  lasted  but  a  few  years.  In  1680,  an 
unsuccessful  attempt  was  made  to  enlarge  and  repair  it;  and  at 
length,  in  1688,  a  larger  and  more  commodious  house  was  erected, 
near  the  site  of  the  former,  which  lasted  more  than  one  hundred 
and  twenty  years,  having  stood  till  the  new  Meeting  House  in  the 
east  Parish  was  erected,  in  1809.* 

Prior  to  the  year  1684,  it  appears  that  nothing  effectual  had 
been  done  towards  purchasing  a  title  to  the  land  "  cleare  of  the  In- 
dians, who  were  continually  making  demands  upon  the  towne."  The 
Plantation  was  commenced  under  the  auspices  of  the  Gen.  Court  ; 
and,  as  6000  acres,  bordering  upon  this  Plantation,  had  been  re- 
served by  order  of  the  Court,  for  the  use  of  the  Indians,  nothing 
further  seems  to  have  been  thought  necessary  for  many  years, 
either  by  the  English  or  the  Indians,  to  give  the  former  a  perfect 
title  to  their  lands.  It  was  not  indeed  till  the  Indian  Plantation  was 
broken  up,  and  most  of  the  inhabitants  dispersed,  that  the  Indians 
of  Natick  and  Wamesit,  (now  a  part  of  Tewksbury,)  who  belong- 
ed to  the  same  tribe  with  the  Marlborough  Indians,  put  in  their 
claims  to  a  right  in  the  soil  which  had  been  cultivated  by  the  En- 
glish now  for  nearly  30  years. 

At  length,  in  the  winter  of  1684,  a  Committee  of  three  persons 

Iween  May,  1675,  and  July,  1677.  It  appears  that  the  inhabitants  had  re- 
turned some  time  before  the  latter  date.  It  appears  from  the  Records  of  the 
General  Court,  that  preparations  for  defence  against  the  Indians  had  been 
made  as  early  as  1670.  lt  Ordered,  that  the  Surveyor  General  shall  forth- 
with deliver  unto  Maj.  Hathorn,  or  to  Lieut.  Samuel  Ward,  60  great  shot,  fit 
for  the  guns  in  the  Fort  at  Marlborough.  A  Fort  was  maintained  there  through 
the  war. 

*  The  old  Meeting  House  was  valued,  in  1689,  at  £10  ;  the  pulpit  at  £4, 
■•'which  were  improved  in  ihe  new  Meeting  House  for  carrying  on  the  finishing 
of  that." — It  would  appear,  from  the  following  vote,  which  passed  with  great 
uuanimity  at  a  meeting  of  the  proprietors,  May  21,  1638,  that  there  had  been 
some  controversy  respecting  the  location  of  the  new  Meeting  House,  and  that 
it  was  even  then  in  contemplation  to  divide  the  town  into  two  parishes. 

k'  Voted,  That  if  the  westerly  part  of  the  town  shall  see  cause  afterwards 
to  build  another  Meeting  House,  and  find  themselves  able  so  to  do,  and  main- 
tain a  minister ;  then  the  division  to  be  made  by  a  line  at  the  cart-way  at 
Stirrup  Brook,  where  Coaecticot  way  now  goeth  over,  (now  within  the  limits 
of  Northborough.)  and  so  to  run  a  parallel  line  with  the  west  line  of  the 
bounds  of  the  town."''  It  would  seem  highly  probable,  from  this  vote,  that 
vhcre  were  inhabitants  then  living  west  of  the  line  thus  defined,  and  which 
was  afterwards  (1717)  made  the  b<^:rst'ary  line  between  Marlborough  and 
W<  tstboraugb. 


22  HISTORY  OF  NOIU'HEOROUGH. 

was  appointed  by  the  town  to  treat  with  the  Indians  ;  who,  April 
17th  and  18th,  with  the  help  of  Maj.  Peter  Bulkley  and  Capt. 
Thomas  Hincksman,  made  a  bargain  that  the  town  should  pay  them 
£31  for  a  deed  in  full.  The  town  accepted  the  conditions,  and 
agreed  to  bring  in  the  money,  (assessed  upon  the  proprietors, 
now  50  in  number,)  to  the  Meeting  House,  on  the  20th  of  May  next, 
which  was  accordingly  done,  and  the  deed  signed  by  the  Indians 
presented  to  the  town,  who  directed  that  it  should  be  kept  by  Abra- 
ham Williams,  as  also  the  plat  of  the  plantation  made  by  Samuel 
Andrews,  of  which  an  account  has  already  been  given. 

A  Copy  of  the  Indian  Deed  of  the  Plantation  of  Marlborough. 
"To  all  Christian  people  to  whom  these  presents  shall  come,  Greet- 
ing 

KNOW  YEE,  That  we,  the  Indian  inhabitants  of  the  Planta- 
tions called  Natick  and  Wamesit,"  (now  part  of  Tewksbury,)  "in  the 
Massachusetts  Colonie,  in  New  England,  namely,"  (the  names  of 
the  grantees  are  written  below,  with  the  omission  of  Andrew  Pilim 
or  Pitimee,  and  John  Wamesqut,  and  the  addition  of  Edmund  Aso- 
wonit,  making  the  whole  number  25,)  "for  and  in  consideration  of 
the  sum  of  thirty  one  pounds  of  lawful  money  of  New  England, 
which  said  sum,  wee  the  said"  (here  the  names  are  repeated,)  "do 
acknowledge  ourselves  to  have  received  of  Abraham  Williams  and 
Joseph  Rice,  both  of  the  town  of  Marlborough,  in  the  County  of 
Middlesex,  in  New  England,  who,  in  the  said  payment,  not  only  for 
themselves,  but  also  as  agents  in  behalf  of  all  the  rest  of  their  fel- 
low purchasers,  belonging  to  the  said  town  ©f  Marlborough,  and  of 
the  said  sum  of  thirty  one  pounds,  and  of  every  part  and  parcel 
thereof,  wee  the  said"  (names  repeated)  "for  ourselves,  and  for  our 
heirs,  executors,  administrators,  and  assigns,  do  freely,  clearly,  and 
wholly,  exonerate,  acquit,  and  discharge  the  said  Abraham  Wil- 
liams and  Joseph  Rice  and  all  their  said  fellow  purchasers  belong- 
ing to  the  said  town  of  Marlborough,  and  every  of  them,  and  their 
heirs,  executors,  administrators,  and  every  of  them  forever;  have 
given,  granted,  bargained,  sold,  and  by  these  presents,  do  give, 
grant,  bargain,  sell,  and  confirm,  unto  the  said  Abraham  Williams 
and  Joseph  Rice,  and  unto  all  their  fellow  purchasers,  belonging  to 
the  said  Town  of  Marlborough,  and  unto  all  and  every  of  their  sev- 
eral heirs  and  assigns  forever,  all  that  tract  of  land,  which  is  con- 
tained within  the  bounds  of  the  Town,  Township,  or  Plantation, 
called  Marlborough  aforesaid,  as  the  said  bounds  were  laid  out, 
plotted  and  represented  by  Mr.  Samuel  Andrews,  of  Cambridge,  un- 


HJST0RY  OF  NORTHBOROUGH.  13 

to  the  Court  of  the  Massachusetts  Colonie  aforesaid,  and  by  the 
said  Court  accepted  and  recorded,  that  is  to  say  all  Uplands3 
Meadows,  Swamps,  Woods,  Timber,  Fountains,  Brooks,  Rivers, 
Ponds,  and  Herbage,  within  the  said  bounds  of  the  said  Town, 
Township,  or  Plantation  of  Marlborough,  together  with  all  and  sin- 
gular the  appurtenances  thereof,  and  all  manner  of  profits,  gains, 
and  advantages,  arising  upon,  or  from,  the  said  tract  of  land,  which 
the  said  Abraham  Williams,  or  Joseph  Rice,  or  all,  or  any  of  their 
fellow  purchasers,  belonging  to  the  town  of  Marlborough  afore- 
said, at  any  time  formerly  had,  or  now  have,  or  hereafter  at  any 
time  may,  or  shall  have  ;  (except  a  certain  farm,  some  years  ago 
laid  out  unto  Mr.  John  Alcock,  deceased,  which  lyeth  within  the. 
bounds  of  said  town  or  township  of  Marlburrough,  and  is  by  us,  the 
said"  [names  repeated]  "utterly  and  totally  exempted  and  excluded 
from  this  present  bargain.)  To  have  and  to  hold  all  the  foremeu- 
tioned  tract  of  land"  (here  the  description  is  repeated)  "to  their  own 
proper  use  and  improvement,  as  is  above  declared,  (except  the 
farm  before  excepted,)  to  themselves,  the  said  Abraham  Williams 
and  Joseph  Rice,  and  to  all  their  said  fellow  purchasers,  belonging 
to  the  said  Marlburrough,  and  unto  all  and  several  their  heirs  and  as- 
signs forever,  in  a  good  and  sure  estate  of  inheritance,  in  fee  sim- 
ple, without  any  claims  or  demands,  any  obstruction,  eviction,  ex- 
pulsion, or  molestation  whatsoever,  from  us  the  said"  (names  re- 
peated,) "or  from  the  heirs,  executors,  administrators,  or  assigns  of 
us  the  said  Indians,  or  either  of  us,  or  from  any  other  person  or 
persons  whatsoever,  acting  by,  from,  or  under  us  or  them,  or  any 
of  them,  our  said  heirs,  executors,  administrators,  or  assigns.  Fur- 
thermore, wee,  the  said"  (names  repeated)  "do  covenant  and  grant, 
with,  and  too,  the  said  Abraham  Williams  and  Joseph  Rice,  and  all 
their  said  fellow  purchasers,  belonging  to  said  Marlburrough,  that 
wee,  the  above  named  Indians,  have  been,  until  the  conveyance 
and  assurance  made  by  these  presents,  the  true  and  proper  owners 
of  all  the  said  tract  of  land,  lying  within  the  bounds  of  the  planta- 
tion or  township  of  Marlburrough,  together  with  all  and  singular 
the  appurtenances  thereof,  in  our  own  right,  and  to  our  own  use, 
in  a  good  absolute  and  firm  estate  of  inheritance,  in  fee  simple,  and 
have  full  power,  good  right,  and  lawful  authority  to  grant,  bar- 
gain, sell,  conveigh,  and  assure,  the  said  tract  of  land,  and  every 
part  and  parcel  thereof,  with  all  and  singular  the  appurtenances  of 
the  same,  as  is  before,  in  these  presents,  mentioned  ;  and  wee,  the 
said"  (names  repeated)  "do  warrant  and  assure  that  all  the  tract  of 


14 


HISTORY  OP  NORTHBOROUGH. 


land,  and  ali  and  every  the  appurtenances  thereof,  by  these  pres-~ 
ents,  alienated  and  sold,  have  been  and  are  at  the  time  of  signing 
and  sealing  of  this  Deed  of  sale,  utterly  and  totally  free,  and  clear 
from  any  former  bargains,  sales,  gifts,  grants,  leases,  mortgages, 
judgments,  executions,  extents,  and  incumbrances  whatsoever;  and 
wee,  the  said"  (names  repeated)  "for  ourselves,  and  our  heirs,  exec- 
utors, administrators,  and  assigns,  do,  and  shall,  from  time  to  time, 
and  at  all  times  hereafter,  (as  occasion  shall  be  offered)  confirm, 
defend,  and  make  good,  unto  all  intents  and  purposes,  this  whole 
bargain  and  sale  aforesaid,  and  unto  all  and  several  their  heirs  and 
assigns  forever.  In  witness  of  all  which  premises,  wee,  the  said" 
(names  repeated)  "have  hereunto  set  our  hands  and  seals,  this 
twelfth  day  of  June,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  Christ,  one  thousand 
six  hundred,  eighty  and  four,  Annoq.  Regni  Regis  Caroli  Secundi 
XXXVI. 


Andrew  Pilim  (Pitimee) 

Attorney  to  old  F.  JVaban. 
signum 
John  X    Nasquanet 

signum 
William  X    Wononatomog 

signum 
John  [*<    Speen 
signum 
Lawrence  ^    Nowsawane 

signum 
Jacob  X    Ponopohquin 

his  mark 
Jeremy  X   Sosoohquoh 

his  mark 
Samuel  ^    William 

signum 
Nathaniel  ^    Quonkatohn 
James  Speen 

signum 
John  ><*    Wamesqut 

signum 
Job  X    Pohpono 

his  mark 
Benjamin  ><<    Tray 

his  mark 
Sosowun  ><;   noo 


James  x    Wiser 
Simon  Betogkom 

"June  11th  and  12th,  1C84. 


his  mark 
Great  ><;    John 
Thomas  Waban 
his  mark 
Abraham  >-    Speen 

his  mark 
Great  x    James 

signum 
Jacob  X    Petowat 

signum 
Jehoja  X    kin 

signum 
Peter  X    Ephraim 

Attorney  for  Jno.  Awoosarnug. 

signum 
John  x    Awoosamug 

signum 
Thorn.  X    Dublet 

signum 
Benjamin  B  Boho. 

Signed,  sealed,  and  delivered,  in  pre- 
sence of  us  witnesses, 

Simon  Crosby 
John  Curtis 
his  mark 
Henry   X     Rice 
John  Magus  | 


Tt     •   i    m  i  -ir  i  Indians. 

Daniel  lakawompaitj 

At  a  Court  held  at  Natick  among 
the  Indians,  there  appeared  in  Court,  and  before  me,  all  the  seal- 
ers and  subscribers  to  this  deed,  being  twenty  five  (there  are  twen- 


HISTORY  OF  NORTIIEOROUGH.  1  9 

ty  six  signatures)  persons  in  number,  and  freely  acknowledged  this 
writing  to  be  their  act  and  deed." 

"As  Attests,  Daniel  Gookin,  SerCr  Assistant." 

"This  Deed  entered  in  the  Register  at  Cambridge.  Lib.  9.  page 
293—299.       7.  2.  85.  By  Tho  :  Danforth,  ft." 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  above  signatures,  that,  besides  the  two 
Indian  witnesses,  John  Magus  and  Daniel  Takawompait,  four  oth- 
ers, viz.  Andrew  Pitimee,  James  Speen,  Simon  Betogkom,  ;md 
Thomas  Waban,  wrote  their  own  names.  Daniel  Takawompait, 
or  Tokkohwompait,  was  a  pastor  of  the  church  in  Natick,  in  1698, 
ordained  by  the  Rev.  and  holy  man  of  God,  John  Eliot.  He  is 
said  to  have  been  a  person  of  great  knowledge.*  Thomas  Waban 
was  probably  a  son  of  old  Waban,  the  first  Indian  convert  in  Mas- 
sachusetts, and  one  who  supported  a  consistent  christian  character 
till  his  death,  which  happened  in  1674,  at  the  age  of  70.f  Maj. 
Gen.  Daniel  Gookin,  before  whom  the  deed  was  acknowledged, 
was  the  friend  and  fellow  laborer  of  Eliot,  an  enlightened,  virtu- 
ous, and  benevolent  magistrate.  He  belonged  to  Cambridge, 
where  he  died  in  1687,  aged  75. 

Two  others,  whose  names  are  affixed  to  this  instrument,  viz, 
John  Speen,  and  John  Awoosamug,  are  mentioned  in  the  account 
of  Dochester.J  The  former  of  whom,  it  appears,  was  for  some 
time  a  teacher,  till  he  became  addicted  to  intemperance,  when  he 
was  laid  aside.  The  latter,  though  he  had  been  propounded  to 
join  the  church,  had  been  excluded  on  account  of  his  quick  and  pas- 
sionate temper,  but  discovered  marks  of  penitence  during  his  last 
sickness,  which  satisfied  the  scruples  of  his  brethren. 

The  Indian  Plantation  of  Ockoocangansett,§  or  Marlboreugh. 

Some  time  previous  to  the  commencement  of  the  English  Plan- 
tation, as  appears  from  the  following  order  of  the  General  Court, 
the  Indians  had  a  grant  of  a  township  in  that  place. 

"  In  reference  to  the  case  between  Mr.  Eliot,  in  behalf  of  the 
Indians  of  Qguonikongquamesit,  and  Sudbury  men:  the  Courte  find- 
ing that  the  Indians  had  agraunt  of  a  township  in  the  place  before 

*  Seel  Hist.  Col.  X.  134.     1 1  Hist.  Col.  V.  263.     J  1  Hist.  Col.  IX.  198. 

{  1  have  given  the  name  as  it  is  uniformly  written  in  the  earliest  records 
of  Marlborough.  Hutchinson,  quoting  from  Eliot,  who  visited  the  place  in 
1670,  writes  it  Ogguonikongquamesut ;  Gookin,  who  wrote  in  1674,  Okomma- 
kamesit.  The  word  has  since  been  corrupted  into  Agogangjpmisset.  This 
name,  it  should  be  considered,  was  at  first  appropriated  to  the  Indian  Planta- 
tion, while  the  English  Plantation,  before  its  incorporation  in  1660,  was  called 
Whipsuppenicke.  Both  plantations  were,  however,  in  167<J,  called  by  the 
same  name  by  Daniel  Gookin. 


16 


HISTORY  OF  RORTHBOROUGH. 


the  English,  the  Courte  determines  and  orders,  that  Mr.  Edward 
Jackson,  Mr.  Tho.  Danforth,  Mr.  Ephraim  Child  andCapt.  Lusher,* 
or  any  three  of  them,  as  a  committee,  shall  with  the  first  conven- 
ient opportunity,  if  it  may  be  before  winter,  lay  out  a  township  in 
the  said  place,  of  6000  acres,  to  the  Indians  in  which,  at  least,  shall 
bee  three  or  four  hundred  acres  of  meadow ;  and  in  case  there  be 
enough  left  for  a  convenient  township  for  the  Sudbury  men,  to  lay 
it  out  to  them;  the  grant  of  Mr.  Alcock's  (842  acres  granted  in  1655) 
confirmed  by  the  last  Court  out  of  both  excepted  and  reserved,  .and 
the  Indians  to  have  the  Hill  on  which  they  are,  and  the  rest  of  the 
land  to  be  laid  out  adjoining  to  it  as  may  be  convenient  to  both 
plantations. "t 

The  Hill  mentioned  in  this  order,  had  been  improved  for  many 
years  by  the  Indians,  probably  long  before  the  arrival  of  the  Eng- 
lish, as  a  planting  field.  It  was  afterwards,  in  1677,  as  appears 
from  the  following  instrument,  conveyed  to  Daniel  Gookin,  Esq. 

*  Know  all  men  by  these  presents  that  we  old  Nequain,  Robin 
called  old  Robin,  Benjamin  Wuttanamit,  James  called  Great  James, 
John  Nasquamit,  Sarah  the  widow  of  Peter  Nasquament,  in  behalf 
of  her  child  Moses  David,  next  heir  to  my  father  and  to  my  uncle 
Josiah  Harding,  deceased,  without  issue,  Assoask  the  widow  of  Jo- 
siah  Nowell,  in  behalf  of  my  children,  Sarah  Conomog,  sole  exex- 
utrix  to  my  late  husband,  Conomog,  Elizabeth,  the  only  daughter 
and  heir  of  Solomon,  deceased,"  [Solomon  had  been  the  teacher  of 
the  Indians  of  Marlborough,]  "James  Spene,  in  behalf  of  my  wife, 
being  all  of  us,  true  proprietors,  possessors  and  improvers  of  the 
Indian  lands  called  Whipsufferage,  alias  Okonkonomesit,  adjoining 
to  Marlborough  in  the  colony  of  Massachusetts  in  New  England 
for  divers  considerations  us  thereunto  moving,  especially  the  love 
and  duty  we  owe  to  our  honored  magistrate,  Daniel  Gookin,  of 
Cambridge,  Esq.  who  hath  been  a  ruler  to  us  above  20  years,  do 
hereby  freely  and  absolutely  give,  grant  and  confirm,  unto  him  the 
said  Daniel  Gookin,  Esq.  and  his  heirs  forever,  one  parcel  of  land 
heretofore  broken  up,  and  being  planted  by  us  and  our  predeces- 
sors, called  by  the  name  of  Okonkonomesit  Hill,  situate,  lying  and 
being  on  the  south  side  of  our  township  and  plantation,  near  Marl- 
borough, containing  about  one  hundred  acres,  more  or  less,  (also 
ten  acres  in  Fort  Meadow,  and  ten  in  Long  Meadow,)  with  free 

*  These  three,  Danforth,  Child,  and  Lusher,   were   respectively    deputies 
!o  the  General  Court  from  Cambridge,  Watertown,  and  Dedham,  in  1657. 

t  Records  of  the  General  Court  for  the  ytar  1658-9. 


HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROUGH.  17 

liberty  of  commonage  for  wood,  timber,  feeding  of  bis  cattle,  upon 

any  common  land,  within  our  township  or  plantation." 

"Second  day  of  May,  1677. 

Signed,  sealed,  and  delivered  in  presence  of  us, 

John  Eliot,  Waban  X  his  mark, 

Noah  Wiswell,  Piamboo  X  his  mark, 

Joshaa  Woods,  Joseph  Wheeler. 

Acknowledged  before  me, 

Thomas  Danforth,  Jlssistct7it. 

Entered  and  recorded  at  the  Registry  at  Cambridge.*" 

It  is  thus  described  by  Gookin  in  1674.  "  In  this  Indian  Plan- 
tation there  is  a  piece  of  fertile  land,  containing  above  150  acres, 
upon  which  the  Indians  have,  not  long  since,  lived,  and  planted 
several  apple  trees  thereupon,  which  bear  abandance  of  fruit; 
but  now  the  Indians  are  removed  from  it  about  a  mile.  This 
tract  of  land  doth  so  embosom  itself  into  the  English  town,  that  it 
is  encompassed  about  with  it,  except  one  way;  and  upon  the  edge 
of  this  land  the  English  have  placed  their  Meeting  House."  It  was 
a  favorite  design  of  the  benevolent  Gookin,  which  he  proposed  in 
his  Historical  Collections,  "  as  an  expedient  for  civilizing  the  In- 
dians, and  propagating  the  Gospel  among  them,"  to  have  this  tract 
of  land,  which,  with  certain  meadows  and  woodland,  he  says,  "is  well 
worth  £200  in  money,  set  apart  for  an  Indian  free  school  ;  and 
there  to  build  a  convenient  house  for  a  school  master  and  his  fami- 
ly, and  under  the  same  roof  may  be  a  room  for  a  school."  This, 
with  the  necessary  out  buildings,  he  computes  will  not  cost  more 
than  £200  in  money  ;  and  the  use  of  the  land,  he  thinks,  will  be  an 
adequate  compensation  for  the  services  of  the  school  master. 

"  Moreover,  it  is  very  nrobable,"  he  adds,  "  that  the  English 
people  of  Marlborough  will  gladly  and  readily  send  their  children 
to  the  same  school,  and  pay  the  school  master  for  them,  which  will 
better  his  maintenance  ;  for  they  have  no  school  in  that  place  at 
the  present." 

We  learn  further  from  this  account  that  the  number  of  families 
in  Marlborough,  at  this  period,  did  not  amount  to  fifty,  every  vil- 
lage containing  that  number  being  required  by  the  laws  to  provide 
a  school  "to  teach   the  English   tongue,  and  to  write."     "These 

*May  1C,  1682.  Waban,  Piamboo,  Great  James,  Thomas  Tray,  and 
John  Wincols,  proprietors  of  the  Indian  Plantation  of  Whipsufferadge,  grant- 
ed to  Samuel  Gookin,  of  Cambridge,  liberty  to  erect  a  Saw  Mill  upon  any 
brook  or  run  of  water  within  the  said  Plantation,  with  land  Mot  exceeding 
three  acres,  n«e  of  timber,  &c.  for  30  years, 


18  HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROUCfft. 

people  of  Marlborough,"  says  he,  somewhat  indignantly,  "wanting 
a  few  of  fifty  families,  do  take  that  low  advantage  to  ease  their 
purses  of  this  common  charge." 

What  reception  this  proposal  met  with,  we  are  not  informed. 
It  was  most  certainly  an  expedient  that  promised  the  happiest  con- 
sequences, and  worthy  of  the  liberal  and  philanthropic  mind  of  its 
author.  How  close  is  the  resemblance  between  this  plan,  conceiv- 
ed more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  since,  and  that  of  the 
Indian  schools  recently  established  at  Brainerd,  Eliot,  Mayhew, 
and  other  places  in  the  United  States  ?* 

The  people  of  Marlborough,  notwithstanding  the  severity  of 
Gookin's  censure,  have  not  been  behind  other  towns  in  New  En- 
gland in  their  attention  to  schools.  Owing  to  the  troubles  which 
ensued,  soon  after  the  date  of  Gookin's  Historical  Collections,  they 
felt  themselves  unable  to  meet  the  expense  of  a  public  school  for 
several  following  years.  At  length,  however,  in  1698,  Benjamin 
Franklinj  was  employed  as  a  school  master  in  Marlborough,  from 
the  first  of  November,  1696,  to  the  last  of  March,  1697,  at  eight 
shillings  per  week  ;  "  he  engaging  carefully  to  teach  all  such  youth 
as  com  or  are  sent  to  him,  to  read  English  once  a  day,  att  least,  or 
more,  if  need  require  ;  also  to  learn  to  write  and  cast  accounts." 
The  school  was  kept  in  Isaac  Wood's  house,  which  was  then  un- 
occupied. 

*  1  Hist.  Col.  I.  p.  220. 

+  This  person  was  probably  an  uncle  of  Doctor  Benjamin  Franklin.  In 
the  first  volume  of  Franklin's  Works,  edited  by  his  grandson,  William  Tem- 
ple Franklin,  page  6,  is  the  following  account  of  the  person  referred  to  above. 
u  My  grandfather  had  four  sons,  who  grew  up,  viz:  Thomas,  John,  Benjamin 
and  Josiah.  Benjamin  was  bred  a  silk  dyer,  serving  an  apprenticeship  in  Lon- 
don. He  was  an  ingenious  man.  I  remember,  when  I  was  a  boy,  he  came 
to  my  father's,  in  Boston,  and  resided  in  the  house  with  us  for  several  years. 
There  was  always  a  particular  affection  between  my  father  and  him,  and  I 
was  his  godson.  He  lived  to  a  great  age.  He  left  behind  him  two  quarto 
volumes  of  manuscript  of  his  own  poetry,  consisting  of  fugitive  pieces  addres- 
sed to  his  friends.  He  had  invented  a  shorthand  of  his  own,  which  he  taught 
nie,  but  not  having  practiced  it,  I  have  now  forgotten  it.  He  was  very  pious, 
and  zn  assiduous  attendant  at  the  sermons  of  the  best  preachers,  which  he 
reduced  to  writing  according  to  his  method,  and  had  thus  collected  several 
volumes  of  them.  He  was  also  a  good  deal  of  a  politician  ;  too  much  so,  per- 
haps, for  his  station.  There  fell  lately  into  my  possession,  in  London,  a  col- 
lection he  made  of  all  the  principal  political  pamphlets  relating  to  public  af- 
fairs, from  the  year  1G41  to  1717;  many  of  the  volumes  are  wanting,  as  ap- 
pears, by  their  numbering;  but  there  still  remains  eight  volumes  in  folio,  and 
twenty  in  quarto  and  octavo.  A  dealer  iu  old  books  had  met  with  them,  and 
knowing  me  by  name,  having  bought,  books  of  him,  he  brought  them  to  me. 
It  would  appear  that  my  uncle  must  have  left  them  here,  when  he  went  to 
America,  which  was  about  fifty  years  a,^'o.  I  found  several  of  his  notes  in  the 
margins.     His  grandson,  Samuel  Franklin,  is  still  living  in  Bosto:;."' 


HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROUGH.  19 

Jan.  10,  1698-9.  The  town  voted  to  build  a  school  house.  Af- 
ter this,  Mr.  Jonathan  Johnson  was  employed  as  a  school  master 
for  many  years  in  succession. 

The  Indian  Plantation  was  laid  out  agreeably  to  the  following  report 
of  the  Commissioners  appointed  as  aforesaid. 

"WmpsurPENicKE  the  19th  of  june,  1659. 
"The  Committee  appointed  hy  the  Gen.  Court  to  lay  out  a  Plan- 
tation for  the  Indians  of  6000  acres  at  the  above  named  place,  hav- 
ing given  Mr.  Eliot*  a  meeting  and  duly  weighed  all  his  exceptions 
in  the  behalf  of  the  Indians;  first,  what  hath  beene  formerly  acted 
and  returned  to  the  Gen.  Court,  do  judge  meete  in  way  of  comply- 
ance,  that  the  bounds  of  the  Indian  Plantation  bee  enlarged  unto 
the  most  westerly  part  of  the  fence,  that  now  standeth  on  the 
west  side  of  th.e  Hill  or  planting  field  called  Ockoocangansett,  and 
from  thence  to  bee  extended  on  a  direct  north  line  untill  they  have 
their  full  quantity  of  6000  acres:  the  bounds  of  their  Plantation  in 
all  other  respects,  wee  jud°:e  meete  that  they  stand  as  in  the  form 
returned  ;  and  that  their  full  complement  of  meadow  by  Court 
Grant,  may  stand  and  bee  exactly  measured  out  by  an  artist  within 
the  limits  of  the  aforesaid  lines,  when  the  Indians,  or  any  in  their 
behalf,  are  willing  to  be  at  the  charges  thereof :  provided  alwaies 
that  the  Indi  ns  may  have  noe  power  to  make  sale  thereof,  of  all 
or  any  part  of  their  abovesaid  lands,  otherwise  than  by  the  consent 
of  the  Hon4  Gen1  Court ;  or  when  any  shall  be  made  or  happen, 
the  Plantation  of  English  there  seated  may  have  the  first  tender 
of  it  from  the  Court ;  which  caution  wee  the  rather  insert,  because 
not  only  a  considerable  part  of  the  nearest  and  best  planting  land 
is  heereby  taken  away  from  the  English  (as  we  are  informed)  but 
the  nearest  and  best  part  of  their  meadow,  by  estimation  about  an 
hundred  acres  in  one  place,  that  this  north  line  doth  take  away, 
which  tendeth  much  to  the  detrimenting  of  the  English  Plantation, 
especially  if  the  lands  should  bee  impropriated  to  any  other  use 
than  the  Indians  proposed,  that  is  to  say,  for  an  Indian  Plantation, 
or  for  the  accommodating  their  Plantation,  they  should  bee  depriv- 
ed thereof." 


Signed  by 


F.LEAZICR  LUSHER, 

EDWARD  JACKSON,      {cnnmitrioneri 

EPHRAIM  CHILD, 

THOMAS  DANFORTH, 


*  The  celebrated  John  Eliot,  minister  of  Roxbury,  commonly  called  the 
Apostle  of  the  Indians. 

3 


20  .  HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROUGH. 

The  account  given  of  this  Plantation  by  Capt.  afterwards,  Maj. 
Gen.  Gookin,  of  Cambridge,  who  visited  it  in  1674,  more  than  one 
hundred  and  fifty  years  since,  will  be  interesting  to  these  who  have 
not  already  seen  it. 

"  Okommakatnesit,  alias  Marlborough,  is  situated  about  twelve 
miles  north  northeast  from  Hassanamesitt,  (Grafton)  about  thirty 
miles  from  Boston  westerty. 

"This  village  contains  about  ten  families,  and  consequently  about 
fifty  souls.  The  quantity  of  land  appertaining  to  it  is  six  thousand 
acres.  It  is  much  of  it  good  land,  and  yieldeth  plenly  of  corn,  be- 
ing well  husbanded.  It  is  sufficiently  stored  with  meadow,  and  is 
well  wooded  and  watered.  It  hath  several  good  orchards  upon  it, 
planted  by  the  Indians:  and  is  in  itself  a  very  good  plantation. 
This  town  doth  join  so  near  to  the  English  of  Marlborough,  that  it 
(we  might  apply  to  it  what)  was  spoken  of  David  in  type  and  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  antitype,  "  Under  his  shadow  ye  shall  re- 
joice :"  but  the  Indians  here  do  not  much  rejoice  under  the  English- 
men's shadow  ;  who  do  so  overtop  them  in  their  number  of  people, 
stocks  of  cattle,  &c.  that  the  Indians  do  not  greatly  flourish,  or  de- 
light in  their  station  at  present. 

"Their  ruler  here  was  Onomog,  who  is  lately  deceased,  about 
two  months  since  ;  which  is  a  great  blow  to  that  place.  He  was  a 
pious  and  discreet  man,  and  the  very  soul  as  it  were  of  that  place. 
Their  teacher's  name  is  ****  Here  they  observe  the  same  decorum 
for  religion  and  civil  order,  as  is  done  in  other  towns.  They  have 
a  constable  and  other  officers,  as  the  rest  have.  The  Lord  sancti- 
fy the  present  affliction  they  are  under  by  reason  of  their  bereave- 
ments ;  and  raise  up  others,  and  give  them  grace  to  promote  relig- 
ion and  good  order  among  them." 

From  this  account,  which  is  given  by  an  eye  witness,  it  is  pretty 
evident  that  a  spirit  of  jealousy  and  envy  against  their  more  pros- 
perous neighbors  of  the  English  Plantation,  was  even  then  rankling 
in  their  hearts:  and  we  are  not  much  surprised  to  learn  that,  in  the 
calamitous  war  which  broke  out  in  the  following  year  between  the 
English  and  Indians,  known  by  the  name  of  King  Philip's  war,  some 
of  these  half  civilized  sons  of  the  forest  were  found  among  the  en- 
emy, at  the  place  of  their  general  rendezvous,  in  the  western  part 
of  Worcester  County,  a  few  days  previous  to  their  desolating  march 

*Hutchinson  says  his  name  was  Solomon,  judged  to  be  a  serious  and  sound 
Christian,     p.  167. 


HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROUGH.  21 

through  the  country,  in  which   Lancaster,  and  many  other  towns, 
experienced  the  honors  of  savage  warfare.* 

*  James  Quanipaug,  who  was  sent  out  with  another  Indian  by  the  name 
of  Job  to  reconnoitre  the  enemy,  then  in  the  Western  part  oi  this  County,  in 
the  beginning  of  1676,  passed  through  iiassanamesit  (Grafton)  thence  to 
Manexit,  (a  part  of  Woodstock)  where  he  was  taken  by  seven  Indians  and 
carried  to  vleuimesseg,  (.New  Braintree)  where  he  found  many  of  the  enemy, 
and  among  them  "  tiie  Marlborough  Indians  who  pretended  that  they  had  been 
fetched  away  by  the  other  Indians.11  Some  of  them  professed  to  be  willing  to 
return.  Philip  is  said  at  this  time  to  have  been  about  half  a  day's  journey  on 
the  other  side  of  Fort  Orania,  (Albany)  and  the  Hadley  Indians  on  this  side. 
They  were  then  preparing  for  that  memorable  expedition,  in  which  the  towns 
of  Lancaster,  Groton,  Marlborough,  Sudbury,  and  Medfield,  were  destroyed. 

The  letter  of  James  Quanipaug  bears  date  24th  :  II  mo:  1675.  (Jan. 
24,  1676.)  It  was  only  16  days  after  this,  viz.  Feb.  10th  O.  S.  that  they 
made  a  descent  upon  Lancaster,  with  1500  warriors,  and  butchered  or  carried 
into  captivity  nearly  all  the  inhabitants  of  that  flourishing  village. 

Whether  the  Marlborough  Indians  joined  in  this  expedition,  or  left  the 
enemy  and  returned  to  their  homes,  I  have  not  been  able  after  diligent  en- 
quiry to  ascertain.  The  little  that  I  have  been  able  to  collect,  though  cor- 
roborated by  circumstantial  evidence,  rests  mainly  on  tradition. 

Though  it  appears  from  the  testimony  of  James  Quanipaug  that  the 
Marlborough  Indians  were  with  Philip's  men  at  Menimesseg,  it  is  by  no 
means  certain  that  all  who  belonged  to  the  Plantation  had  gone  over  to  the 
enemy.  Tradition  says,  that  those  who  remained  at  home  were  suspected  of 
treachery,  and  that  representations  to  that  effect  were  made  to  the  governor, 
(Leverett)  who  dispatched  a  company  of  soldiers  under  the  command  of 
Capt.  Mosely,  to  convey  them  to  Boston.  They  reached  Marlborough,  it  is 
said,  in  the  night  ;  and  early  in  the  morning,  before  the  Indians  had  any  sus- 
picion of  their  design,  surrounded  the  fort  to  which  they  were  accustomed  to 
repair  at  night,  si<  zed  on  their  arms,  and  obliged  them  to  surrender.  They 
attempted  no  resistance,  and  it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  they  entertained 
any  hostile  designs  against  the  English.  They  were,  however,  taken  into  the 
custody  of  the  soldiers  ;  and,  having  their  hands  fastened  behind  their  backs, 
and  then  being  connected  together  by  means  of  a  cart  rope,  they  were  in  this 
manner  driven  down  to  Boston,  whence  it  is  probable,  that  they  were  convey- 
ed, in  company  with  the  Indians  of  Natick  and  other  places,  to  one  of  the  is- 
lands in  the  harbor,  and  kept  in  durance  till  the  close  of  the  war. 

This  tradition  is  corroborated  by  the  following  circumstances. 

In  the  account  of  Daniel  Gookin,  in  1  Hist.  Col.  1,  228,  it  is  said  that 
"  some  instances  of  perfidy  in  Indians,  who  had  professed  themselves  friendly, 
excited  suspicions  against  all  their  tribes.  The  General  Court  of  Massachu- 
setts passed  several  severe  laws  against  them  ;  and  the  Indians  of  Natick  and 
other  places,  who  had  subjected  themselves  to  the  English  government,  were 
hurried  down  to  Long  Island  (Hutchinson  says  Deer  Island,)  in  the  harbor 
of  Boston,  where  they  remained  all  winter,  and  endured  inexpressible  hard- 
ships.11 We  learn  further  from  Hutchinson,  that  the  Indians  of  Punkapog 
alone  (now  Stoughton)  were  exempted  from  this  severity  of  treatment.  The 
ground  of  the  harsh  measures  adopted  in  reference  to  the  Indians  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Boston,  was,  the  perfidious  conduct  of  the  Springfield  Indians, 
in  assisting  in  the  destruction  of  Westfield,  Hadley, and  other  places,  in  Octo- 
ber 1675.  "This  instance  of  perfidy,'1  says  Hutchinson,  ''seems  to  have  in- 
creased the  jealousies  and  suspicions,  which  had  before  begun  of  the  Indians 
round  Boston,  viz.  Punkapog,  Natick,  &c." 

At  the  session,  in  October,  the  General  Court  ordered  "  that  no  person 
shall  entertain,  own,  or  countenance  any  Indian  under  the  penalty  of  being  a. 
betrayer  of  this  government.11 

"  That  a  guard  be  set  at  the  entrance  of  the  town  of  Boston,  a  id  that  no 


22 


HISTORY  OF  NORTHEOROUGH. 


This  war,  if  calamitous  to  the   English,  proved  fatal  to  nearly 
all  the  Indian   Plantations  in   New  England.     Among   the  rest  ihe 

Indian  be  suffered  to   enter  upon  any  pretence   without  a  guard  of  two  mus- 
keteer?, and  not  to  lodge  in  town." 

"That  any  person  may  apprehend  an  Indian,  finding  him  in  town,  or  ap- 
proaching; the  town,  and  that  none  be  suffered  to  come  in  by  water.'" 

To  this  we  may  add,  that  Capt.  Mosely's  character  was  such  as  to  render 
it  highly  probable  that  he  perfor/ied  the  part  which  tradition  has  assigned  to 
him.  Hutchinson  says,  "•he  had  been  an  old  privateerer  at  Jamaica,  proba- 
bly of  such  as  were  called  Buccaniers,"  He  commanded  a  company  of  110 
Tohinteers,  in  the  war  with  King  Philip,  and  was  one  of  the  most  resolute 
and  courageous  captains  of  his  day.  It  was  he  who,  on  Sept.  1,  1675,  went 
out  to  the  rescue  of  Capt.  Lathrop,  who  with  only  80  men  was  attacked  by 
a  body  of  7  or  8  hundred  Indians  at  Ueerfield,  wh.  n  all  Capt.  L's  company, 
with  the  exception  of  seven  or  eight,  were  cut  off.  He  also  led  the  van  in 
the  terrible  assault  made  upon  the  Indians,  Dec.  19,  in  the  Narragansett 
country,  in  which  six  English  captains  were  killed,  and  nearly  200  men  kil- 
led and  wounded. 

I  hope  I  shall  be  pardoned  for  adding  to  this  already  extended  note,  the 
following  particulars  respecting  the  remains  of  the  Marlborough  Indians. 

After  the  close  of  the  war,  some  of  the  Indians  of  Marlboro i-gh  appear  to 
have  returned  to  their  former  place  of  abode.  But  their  plantation  was  brok- 
en up,  and  they  were  forced  to  find  shelter  and  subsistence  as  they  were  able. 

A  considerable  number  of  the  Indians  who  remained  in,  or  returned  to, 
Marlborough,  after  the  war,  lived  in  the  westerly  pait  of  the  town,  on  the 
farm  of  Thomas  Brigham,  one  of  the  oldest  proprietors,  the  common  ancestor 
of  all  the  Brighams  in  this  town,  as  well  as  of  many  of  that  name  in  Marlbo- 
rough, Westborough,  and  other  places.  The  late  Judge  Brigham,  of  West- 
borough,  and  Rev.  Benjamin  Brigham,  of  Fitzwilliam,  were  great-grandsons 
of  Thomas. 

Among  those  who  returned  was  David,  alias  David  Munnanaw,  who  had 
joined  Philip,  and  as  he  afterwards  confessed,  assisted  in  the  destruction  of 
Medfield.  '1  his  treacherous  Indian  had,  it  is  said,  a  slit  thumb,  which  cir- 
cumstance led  to  his  conviction.  He  had  been  absent  from  Marlborough 
several  months,  but  after  his 'return  would  give  no  account  of  hims.lf  whith- 
er he  had  been,  or  how  he  had  employed  himself  in  the  mean  time.  At 
length,  however,  an  inhabitant  of  Medfield,  one  whom  Muunanaw  had  wound- 
ed, being  ai  Marlborough,  immediately  recognized  him  by  the  mark  on  his 
thumb,  and  charged  him  with  his  treachery.  At  first  he  denied  the  charge  ; 
but,  finding  that  the  proof  against  him  could  not  be  evaded,  heat  length  own- 
ed that  he  had  been  led  away  by  Philip,  and  had  assisted  in  the  burning  of 
Medfield. 

He  was,  however,  suffered  to'ive  without  molestation.  His  wigwam  stood 
on  the  borders  of  the  beautiful  lake,  near  the  public  house  kept  by  Mr.  Silas 
Gates,  where  he  lived  with  his  family  many  years,  till  the  infirmities  of  old 
age  came  upon  him.  He  was  accustomed  to  repair  to  the  neighboring  or- 
chards for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  fruit.  There  was  one  tree  of  the  fruit 
of  which  he  was  particularly  fond,  and  which  was  accordingly  his  favorite 
plpce  of  resort.  In  this  spot  the  old  warrior  expired.  Old  David  Munnanaw 
died  a  little  more  than  80  years  since,  having  lived,  as  was  supposed,  nearly 
or  quite  a  century  of  years.  Capt.  Timothy  Brigham,  now  iu  his  9lst  y-ar, 
well  recoilects  having  seen  him,  when  he  was  a  child  of  about  9  or  IU  years 
old,  at  his  grandfather's,  Jonathan  Brigham's,  of  Marlborough.  According  to 
this  account,  Munnanaw  must  have  been  a  young  man,  25  or  30  years  of  age, 
at  the  time  of  Philip's  war.  Capt.  B.  represents  him  as  bearing  the  marks 
of  extreme  old  age,  his  flesh  wasted,  and  his  skin  shrivelled.  He  understood 
that  he  had  the  reputation  of  having  been  treacherous  to  the  English.  Abim- 
ilech  David,  supposed  to  be  a  sou  of  the  former,  was  a  tall,  stout,  well  pro- 


HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROUGH.  23 

Plantation  of  Marlborough,  was  completely  broken  up  and  soon 
passed  into  other  hands.  On  the  15th  of  July  1684,  a  few  weeks 
subsequent  to  the  date  of  the  Indian  deed  of  the  English  Plantation, 
the  Indian  lands  were  formally  transferred  by  deed  to  John  Brig- 
ham  of  Marlborough  and  his  fellow  purchasers  ;*  and  in  October, 
1636,  the  aforesaid  John  Brigham  who  was  a  noted  surveyor  and 
speculator  in  lands,  was  appointed  "  to  lay  out  30  acres  to  each  of 
the  proprietors  in  some  of  the  best  of  the  land  lying  as  convenient 
as  mav  be  to  the  town  of  Marlborough." 

June  the  5th  1700,  the  inhabitants  of  Marlborough  petitioned 
the  General  Court,  that  the  proprietors  of  the  Indian  lands  might 
be  annexed  to  the  said  town,  which  petition  was  granted,  and  Marl- 
borough accordingly  received  an  accession  of  6000  acres,  a  large 
proportion  of  which  is  good  land. 

After  the  close  of  Philip's  war  the  inhabitants  of  Marlborough 
do  not  appear  to  have  been  seriously  molested  by  the  Indians  till 
after  the  commencement  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

In  the  mean  time  the  settlement  had  extended  itself  towards  the 
borders  of  the  town,  so  that  some  time  previous  to  the  close  of  the 

portioned  Indian,  is  well  remembered  by  many  persons  now  living.  Abimi- 
lech  had  several  daughters,  among  whom  were,  Sue,  Deborah,  Esther,  Pa- 
tience, Nabhy,  and  Betty.  They  lived  in  a  wretched  hovel  or  wigwam,  un- 
der the  large  oak  now  standing,  near  the  dwelling  house  ot  Mr.  Warrtn  Brig- 
ham.  They  had  became  dissolute  in  their  habits,  and  were  exceedingly 
troublesome  to  their  neighbors  ;  and  they  are  remembered  with  very  little 
respect  or  affection. 

The  Indian  burying  ground,  where  the  last  remnants  of  the  race  were  in- 
terred, is  situated  a  few  rods  from  the  south  road,  lea  ling  from  Marlborough 
to  Northborough,  near  the  residence  of  Widow  Holyoke,  in  a  field  belonging 
to  the  old  Brigham  farm.  It  has  bten  enjoined  on  the  family  in  each  suc- 
ceeding generation,  not  to  trespass  on  this  repository  of  the  dead  ;  an  injunc- 
tion which  has  hiiherto  been  duly  regarded.  The  burying  ground  is  about 
five  rods  in  length,  and  somewhat  more  than  one  rod  in  hrtadth,  covered  with 
wild  grass  and  loose  stones.  A  few  years  since,  as  1  have  been  informed,  as 
many  as  twenty  ©r  thirty  graves  were  plainly  distinguishable,  though  the}' 
have  now  almost  wholly  disappeared.  Two  of  the  graves  were  situated  with- 
out the  bounds  of  the  rest,  and  in  a  direction  perpendicular  to  them  ;  the  for- 
mer being  from  north  to  south,  the  latter  from  east  to  west.  Many  aged  per- 
sons can  remember  when  Die  last  degraded  remnants  of  the  race,  once  inhab- 
iting the  soil  we  occupy,  euclosed  in  rude  coffins  of  rough  boards,  hastily  put 
together,  and  without  any  religious  ceremony,  were  convejed  to  this  reposi- 
tory of  the  dead. 

*  This  deed  appears  to  have  been  obtained  by  unfair  means,  as  in  the 
following  September,  a  committee  appointed  bv  the  General  Court  to  exam- 
ine into  the  grounds  of  complaint  made  by  the  Indians  against  the  English  of 
Marlborough,  reported  in  favor  of  the  Indians,  and  "the  Court  ordered  and  de- 
clared that  the  Indian  deed  of  sale  to  the  inhabitant?  of  Marlborough  of  5800 
acres  of  land  (the  whole  of  the  Indian  Plantation  with  the  exception  ot  the 
Indian  Planting  fir1  ')  bearing  date  July  15,  1684,  is  illegal  and  consequently 
null  and  void.1' 


/ 


24  HISTORY  OF  NORTIIBOROUGH. 

seventeenth  century,  some  of  the  lands  now  included  within  the 
limits  of  Westborough  and  Northborough,  then  called  Chauncey, 
or  Chauncey  Village,  had  been  laid  out  for  farms. 

Indeed  so  early  as  1660,  the  very  year  that  Marlborough  was 
incorporated,  several  tracts  of  meadow,  lying  witlun  the  limits  of 
this  town,  were  surveyed  and  the  names  given  them  which  they 
now  bear.*  And,  in  1662,  three  large  meadows,  Cold  Harbour 
Meadow,  Middle  Meadow,  and  Chauncey  Meadow,  the  first  of  which 
and  part  of  the  second,  lie  within  the  limits  of  this  town,  were  or- 
dered to  be  surveyed,  and  each  to  be  laid  out  in  thirty  four  lots, 
which  was  probably  the  number  of  proprietors  at  that  time.t 

The  first  grants  of  land  lying  within  the  limits  of  what  is  now 
Westborough  and  Northborough,  with  the  exception  of  the  mead- 
ows above  named,  bear  the  date  of  1672.  From  this  time,  and  be- 
fore the  close  of  the  century,  many  of  the  proprietors  of  Marlbo- 
rough had  taken  up  their  2nd,  3d,  and  4lh  divisions  in  the  wester- 
ly part  of  the  town,  several  of  them  west  of  the  river  Assabeth. 

It  is  asserted  by  Rev.  Mr.  Whitney,  in  his  history  of  this  town, 
that  there  were  settlers  in  this  part  of  Marlborough  before  there 
were  any  in  what  is  now  Westborough.  The  first  settler  according 
to  tradition  was  John  Brigham,  from  Sudbury,  a  noted  land  survey- 

*  Three  Corner  Meadow,  Stirrup  Meadow,  Craue  Meadow,  Cedar  Mead- 
ow, &c. 

t  The  origin  of  these  names  according  to  tradition  was  as  follows : — Cold 
Harbour  Meadow,  in  the  western  part  of  this  town,  so  called  from  the  cir- 
cumstance of  a  traveller,  having  lost  his  way,  being  compelled  to  remain 
through  a  cold  winter's  night  in  a  stack  of  hay  in  that  place,  and  on  the  fol- 
lowing morning,  having  made  his  way  through  the  wilderness  to  the  habita- 
tions of  man,  and  being  asked  where  he  lodged  during  the  night,  replied,  "  In 
Cold  Harbour."  Middle  Meadow,  on  ths  borders  of  Westborough  and  North- 
borough, so  called  probably  from  its  situation  in  reference  to  the  two  others. 

Chauncey  Meadow,  in  Wes!  borough,  so  called  probably  for  the  same 
reason  that  the  western  part  of  Marlborough  was  called  Chauncey.  The  ori- 
gin of  the  name  was  known  only  by  tradition  in  the  Rev.  Mr.  Parkman's  day, 
who  was  ordained  in  Westborough,  Oct.  23th,  17*24,  and  who  gave  the  fol- 
lowing account.  "  It  is  said  that  in  early  times  one  Mr.  Chauncsy  was  lost 
in  one  of  the  swamps  here,  and  from  hence  this  part  of  the  town  had  its 
name.'"  I  find  from  the  records  of  the  General  Court  for  the  year  1G65,  that 
Mr.  Chauncey  had  taken  up  lands  within  the  limits  of  Marlborough,  and  that 
the  proprietors  of  Marlborough  were  ordered  to  remunerate  him  for  his  expen- 
ces  incurred  in  laying  out  his  farm,  "  and  he  hath  liberty  to  lay  out  the  same 
in  any  land  not  formerly  granted  by  this  Court."  Quere. — May  not  this  have 
been  President  Chauncey,  of  Harvard  College,  to  whom,  an  account  of  the 
smallness  of  his  salary,  repeated  grants  of  land  were  made  about  this  time  by 
the  General  Court?  Dr.  Chauncey,  of  Boston,  the  great-grandson  of  Pres- 
ident Chauncey,  says  that  the  latter  was  the  first,  and  the  common  ancestor 
of  all  of  that  name  in  this  place.  If  so,  the  Mr.  C.  above  mentioned  must  have 
been  President  Chauncey  or  one  of  his  sons. 


HISTORY  OF  NOF.THEOROUGH.  25 

or,  undoubtedly  the  same  person  who  has  been  mentioned  in  our  ac- 
count of  the  Indian  Plantation.  It  appears  from  the  Proprietors' 
records  that  a  grant  of  land  was  made  to  John  Brigham,  in  1672, 
"in  the  place  formerly  desired,  that  i*,  on  Licor  Meadow  plain." 
This  land  was  probably  part  of  the  Coram  Farm,  so  called,  the 
principal  part  of  which  lay  on  the  northern  side  of  the  old  Marlbo- 
rough line,*  and  now  constitutes,  in  whole,  or  in  part,  the  farms  of 
Nahum  Fay,  Esq.  John  Green,  Asa  Fay,  Lewis  Fay,  and  Stephen 
Williams,  Esq.  The  lands  of  Mr.  Brigham  extended  to  the  saw 
mill  of  Mr.  Lowell  Holbrook,  near  which  he  erected  a  small  cabin, 
in  which  he  lived  several  year?,  remote  from  any  human  habitation, 
till,  at  length,  the  fear  of  the  Savages  compelled  him  to  retreat  to  a 
place  of  greater  security;  and,  it  is  said,  that  only  a  few  days  after 
his  removal,  a  party  of  Indians  came  to  the  place  and  burned  his 
house  to  the  ground. 

The  first  Saw  Mill  erected  in  this  town  was  built  by  the  above 
named  Brigham,  and  stood  on  the  same  spot,  which  is  now  occupied 
for  the  same  purpose.! 

In  the  same  year  (1672)  a  grant  of  land  was  made  to  Samuel 
Goodenow,  grandfather  of  the  late  Asa  Goodenow,  and  to  Thomas 
Brigham,  the  person  mentioned  in  the  last  note,  uby  Double  Pond 
Meadow,  on  both  sides  said  meadow."];  The  lands  taken  up  on  the 
account  of  the  above  named  Samuel  Goodenow,  constituted  three 

*The  old  Marlborough  line,  was  a  straight  line  of  seven  miles  in  extent, 
running  through  the  northwest  angle  of  this  town,  and  cutting  off  more  than 
2000  acres,  which  constitute  what  is  called  the  new  grants,  of  which  an  ac- 
count will  be  given  hereafter. 

t  John  Brigham  was  one  of  three  brothers  (John,  Samuel,  and  Thomas) 
who  came  from  Sudbury  to  Marlborough  sometime  previous  to  1672.  Their 
father  was  from  England,  married  a  Mercie  Hurd  also  from  England,  settled 
in  Sudbury,  where  he  died  probably  in  middle  life,  as  his  widow  had  buried 
a  second  husband  by  the  name  of  Hunt,  before  her  sons  removed  to  Marlbo- 
rough. Samuel  Brigham,  was  the  grand-father  of  the  late  Dr.  Samuel  Brig- 
ham, of  Marlborough  :  Thomas  was  an  ancestor  of  the  late  Judge  Brigham,  of 
Westborough  ;  and  John,  who  was  sometimes  called  Doctor  Brigham,  was  the 
father  of  the  Mrs.  Mary  Fay,  wife  of  Gershom  Fay,  of  whose  remarkable  es- 
cape from  the  Indians  we  shall  presently  give  an  account.  John  Brigham 
was  one  of  the  selectmen  of  Marlborough  in  1679,  and  in  the  winter  of  1689 
90,  representative  to  the  Convention  then  sitting  in  Boston.  The  Coram  Farm, 
was  granted  him,  it  is  said,  by  the  General  Court  to  compensate  him  for  ser- 
vices as  a  surveyor  of  lauds.  Mr.  Brigham  lived  to  be  quite  aged,  and  used 
to  come  to  reside  with  his  daughter  Mrs.  Fay,  in  this  town. 

%  Quere.  May  not  this  meadow  be  the  one  which  lies  between  Great 
and  Little  Chauncey  ponds,  which,  as  they  are  connected  with  each  other 
by  a  water  communication,  might  have  been  called  at  first  Double  Pond  ? 
David  Brigham,  son  of  Thomas,  lived  on  the  borders  of  Great  Chauncey,  on 
the  farm  now  in  the  possession  of  Lovelt  Peters,  Esq. 


26  HISTORY  OF  NORTIIEOROUGH. 

of  the  oldest  settlements  in  this  town,  on  one  of  which  was'the  prin- 
cipal garrison  house,  used  for  many  years  as  a  defence  against  the 
Indians,  and  which  stood  on  the  farm  of  Mr.  Gill  Bartlett,  then  own- 
ed hy  Samuel  Goodenow,  Jr.  The  other  two,  were  in  the  vicinity 
of  this,  and  constitute  in  whole,  or  in  part,  the  farms  of  Deac.  Jonas 
Bartlett  and  Mr.  Stephen  How. 

In  the  same  year,  a  grant  of  land  was  made  to  John  Rfdiet, 
"west  of  Assaheth  River,  northwest  side  of  the  Chauncey  Great 
Pond,  bounded  on  the  east  hy  a  Spruce  Swamp  :"  another  tract  on 
"the  Nepmuck  road,  that  formerly  led  toward  Coneticoat."*  The 
land  of  John  Red:et,  who  was  one  of  the  first  proprietors  and  great- 
est land  holders  of  Marlhorough,  came  into  the  possession  of  Na- 
thaniel Oaks,  who  married  his  daughter,  and  who  lived  on  the  farm 
owned  in  succession  by  Rev.  John  Martyn  and  Rev.  Peter  Whitney, 
and  now  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Jacob  Pierce. t  Capt.  James  Ea- 
ger was  another  of  the  first  settlers  of  this  town.  He  lived  near  the 
centre  of  the  town  on  the  farm  now  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  John 
Fisk.  His  house  was  once  used  for  a  garrison,  and  was  for  many 
years  occupied  as  a  tavern,  being  the  first  that  was  opened  in  the 
place.! 

*  ''■The  Nepmuck  Road,  that  formerly  led  toward  Coneticoat,11  was  the 
old  Connecticut  road  that  passed  through  the  southeast  part  of  this  town, 
over  Rock  Hill,  east  of  Great  and  Little  Chauncey  ponds,  into  Westborough 
and  thence  through  Hassanamesit  or  Grafton.  1.  Hist.  Col.  1.  p.  185  and 
192. 

t  Nathaniel  Oaks  came  from  England,  married  Mehitabel,  daughter  of 
John  Ilediet,  v.'ho  died  Nov.  25th,  1702,  without  children.  His  second  wife 
Mary,  was  a  daughter  of  Adam  Holloway,  by  whom  he  had  the  following 
children,  viz. — Nathaniel,  who  lived  at  Bolton.  William,  burned  to  death  at 
Shrewsbury  in  the  house  of  Capt.  Keyes.  Hannah,  married  to  Gersham  Fay, 
Jr.  died  March  8,  1806,  wanting  but  a  few  months  of  a  century.  She  was 
the  mother  of  the  late  Thaddeus  P'ay,  who  r1i<d.  July  22,  1822,  aged  91  years. 
Mary,  married  to  Daniel  Maynard,  Marlborough.  Ann,  married  to  David 
Maynard,  Westboiough.  John,  built  the  house  near  Col.  Crawford's,  owned 
by  Joel  Gasset.  Jonathan,  removed  to  Harvard.  George,  lived  near  the 
house  of  Mr.  Luther  Hawse,  and  built  a  saw  mill  on  the  river  Assabeth. 

J  Capt.  James  Eager  was  a  native  of  Marlborough,  born  in  1685,  died 
1755,  a^ed  70.  He  was  one  of  the  leading  men  of  the  place  at  the  time  that 
Northhorou^h  became  a  separate  precinct.  It  is  said  that  his  house  was  the 
first  that  was  built  on  the  new  Connecticut  road,  between  the  house  of  Samu- 
el Goodenow  and  the  town  of  Worcester.  It  is  but  little  more  than  a  hund- 
red years,  since  there  was  not  a  human  habitation  on  the  road  from  Marlbo- 
rough to  Brookfield,  west  of  the  Goodenow  farm,  in  the  eastern  part  of  this 
town,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  log  houses  in  that  part  of  Worcester  called 
Boggachoag.  James  Eager,  Jr.  a  son  of  the  above,  was  married  to  Mariam, 
daughter  of  Joseph  Wheeler.  Tht  ir  daughter  Zilpeh,  was  married  to  Mich- 
ael, son  of  Rev.  John  Martyn  through  whom  there  are  several  persons  in  this 
town  who  trace  their  desceut  from  the  first  minister  of  the  place. 


HISTORY  Otf  NORTHBOROUGH.  27 

Several  other  persons  settled  in  what  is  now  Marlborough,  in 
the  early  part  of  the  last  century.* 

Soon  alter  the  commencement  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the 
English  settlers  of  Marlborough  were  again  exposed  to  the  horrors 
of  Indian  warfare.  It  will  be  difficult  for  us,  who  are  permitted  to 
dwell  in  security  under  the  shelter  of  the  domestic  roof,  to  form 
an  adequate  idea  of  the  perilous  condition  of  our  forefathers,  at 
this  gloomy  period.  "  We  have,  indeed,  heard  within  our  ears, 
and  our  fathers  have  told'"  us  the  story  of  their  dangers  and  suffer- 
ings "  in  the  waste  and  howling  wilderness."  But  how  difficult  to 
enter  into  the  feelings  of  men,  who  were  in  constant  peril  for  their 
lives  ;  who,  like  the  children  of  Israel  in  rebuilding  the  walls  of 
Jerusalem,  repaired  to  their  work  with  weapons  in  their  hands, 
and  who  were  liable  to  be  waked  from  their  midnight  slumbers  by 
the  savage  yells  of  a  pitiless  foe?   In  many  instances   were   they 

*Simeon  Howard  was  the  father  of  Cornet  Simeon  Howard,  and  of  Jona- 
than Howard,  whose  son,  Gideon  Howard,  removed  to  Worthington,  in  this 
state,  where  his  descendants,  it  is  supposed,  still  live. 

Simon  Howard,  Senior,  from  Concord,  was  another  of  the  first  settlers. 
His  house  stood  near  the  hearse  house,  on  the  land  of  Mr.  Asa  Fay. 

It  is  not  known  whether  the  Simeon  Howard  mentioned  above,  was  re- 
lated to  Simeon  Howard,  D.  D.  late  pastor  of  the  west  church  in  Boston. 

Adam  Holloway,  from  Concord,  (died  in  1733,  aged  80,)  and  his  son 
Lieut.  Wm.  Holloway,  (died  Jan.  6,  17G0,  aged  71,)  settled  on  the  farm  now 
owned  by  Stephen  Williams,  Esq. 

Lieut.  Wm.  Ho.loway,  married  Mary,  (died  March  9,  1788,  aged  94,)  a 
daughter  of  Simeon  Howard,  Senior,  by  whom  he  had  two  sons  and  four 
daughters.  The  sons  died  youns;.  Of  the  daughters,  Mary,  married  Jonathan 
Bartlrtt,  died  Dec.  22,  1821,  aged  95.  —  Hannah,  married  Capt.  James  Stone, 
of  Western. — Betty,  married* Daniel  W  heeler,  of  Hardwick. — Jemima,  mar- 
ried John  Taylor,  who  died  at  St.  Albans,  Vt. 

John  Taylor,  was  the  father  of  Col.  Holloway  Taylor  now  of  St.  Albans 
and  of  John  Taylor,  Esq    an  Attorney  at  law,  at  Northampton. 

Gershom  Fay,  Senior,  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  this  town.  He  was 
the  son  of  John  Fay,  of  Marlborough,  married  Mary,  a  daughter  of  John 
Brigham,  died  in  1720.  He  lived  at  first  in  the  easterly  part  of  the  town,  af- 
terwards, built  a  house  on  the  Coram  Farm,  near  the  bend  of  the  road,  between 
the  dwelling  house  of  Capt.  Hastings,  and  that  of  Stephen  Williams,  Esq. 
His  children  were  Gershom,  Mary,  Susanna,  Sarah,  Silas,  Timothy,  and  Paul, 

Thomas  Ward,  from  Marlborough,  was  the  first  settler  on  the  farm  now 
in  the  possession  of  Aaapb  Rice  ;  and  Deac.  Isaac  Tomblin  on  the  farm  of  the 
late  Deac.  Isaac  Davis. 

Hezekiah  Tomblin,  lived  first  on  Tomblin  Hill,  so  called;  Ephraim  Bee- 
man,  on  the  farm  ot  Samuel  Dalrymple. 

Joseph  Wheeler,  (died  iu  1747,  aged  56,)  lived  on  the  southern  declivity 
of  Ball's  Hill,  so  called. 

Ephraim  Allen,  from  Hoxbury,  purchased  of  an  Eleazer  How,  a  few  acres 
of  land,  with  a  grist  mill  erected  thereon,  the  site  of  the  present  mill,  and 
Cotton  Factory.  This  was  the  first,  and  for  many  years  the  only  grist  mill, 
in  this  town. 


28 


HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROUGH. 


compelled  to  desert  their  farms,  leaving  their  lands  untilled,  while 
old  and  young,  the  strong  and  the  feeble,  flocked  to  the  frail  forti- 
fications, denominated  garrisons,  as  their  only  means  of  safety. 

These  were  usually  nothing  more  than  common  dwelling  hous- 
es', surrounded  by  palisades,  aud  furnished  with  a  supply  of  fire 
arms  and  ammunition.  In  the  year  171 1,  there  were  no  fewer 
than  twenty  six  garrison  houses  within  the  limits  of  Marlborough, 
to  each  of  which  were  assigned,  on  an  average,  five  or  six  fami- 
lies, the  whole  number  of  families  being  one  hundred  and  thirty 
seven.* 

*"  Marlborough,  December  11,  1711. 

"  These  several  persons  are  allowed  by  the  Captain  Generall. 

"  The  persons  assigned  to  each  particular  Garrison  are  as  followeth : 
Ordered,  by  us  the  Subscribers,  by  the  direction  of  an  act  of  the  Generall 
Court,  entitled  an  act  for  the  better  security  and  defence  of  the  fronteers. 


Capt.  How's  Garison. 
Samuel  Stevens 
James  How 
Jonathan  How 
Samuel  Stow,  Senior 
Thomas  Stow 
Jonathan  Morse. 

Mr.  Breck's*  Garison. 

Capt.  Kerly's  Garison. 
Nathaniel  Joslin 
Joseph  Maynard 
Deacon  Woods 
Nathaniel  Johnson 
Thomas  Amsden 
Simon  Gates 
Joseph  Johnson. 

Capt.  Brigham's  Gaeison. 
Peter  Plimpton 
Benjamin  Mixer 

Isaac  Amsden's  Garison. 
Thomas  Newton 
Sergeant  Mainard 
James  Woods 
Adam  Martin 
Is.  Tempels 
Deacon  Newton 
John  Amsden. 


Is.  How's  Garison. 
Moses  Newton 
David  Fay 
John  N-  wton 
Widdow  Johnson 
Moses  Newton,  Jr. 
James  Kady. 

*  This  undoubtedly  was  the  Rev.  Robert 
Marlborough. 


Lieut.  Williams'  Garison. 
Thomas  Beman 
Peter  Bent 
Richard  Barns 
Edward  Barns 

Ensign  How's  Garison. 
Ensign  Bouker 
Joseph  Wait 
David  Church 
Benjamin  Rice 
Peter  Rice 
Jacob  Rice 
Joseph  Rice. 

Samuel  Morril's  Garison. 
Sergeant  Barret 
John  Barns 
Benjamin  Baylis 
Joseph  Ward 
Joshua  Rice 
Thomas  Martin 
Samuel  Bush. 

Thomas  Brigham's  Garison. 
Jonathan  Brigham 
Oliver  Ward 
Increas  Ward. 

John  How's  Garison. 
Zac.  Eag>r 
Abraham  Fager 
Daniel  Johnson 
Samuel  Wheelock 
Obadiah  Ward 
Thomas  Axtel. 


Samuel  Goodenow's  Garison. 
Nathaniel  Oakes 


Breck,  the  second  Minister 


of 


HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROUGH. 


29 


For  several  of  the  preceding  years,  the  inhabitants,  especially 
such  as  lived  in  the  borders  of  the  town,  had  been  kept  ;n  a  state 
of  constant  anxiety  and  alarm,  in  consequence  of  the  hostile  atti- 
tude of  the  Indians. 

August  8th,  1704,  a  party  of  Indians,  eight  or  ten  in  num- 
ber, rushed   suddenly   from    the  woods,  and   fell  upon  a  number 


Jonathan  Farbush 
Gershom  Fay. 

Lieut.  How's  Garison. 
Thomas   Ward 
Edward  Rice 

Nathan  Brigham's  Garison. 
Joseph  Stratten 
Henry  Bartlett 
Ellicksander  Steward. 

Samuel  Ward  Senior's  Garison. 
William  Ward 
Widdow  Hannah  Ward 
Jonathan  Johnson,  Senior 
Caleb  Rice. 

John  Mathew's  Garison. 
William  Johnson 
Samuel  Ward. 

Daniel  Rice's  Garison. 
Widdow  Sarah  Tayler 
Suply  Weeks 
Elyazer  Taylyer. 

Samuel  Forbush's  Garison. 
James  Bradish 
Thomas  Forbush 
James  Glesson. 

Edmond  Rice's  Garison. 
David  Brigham 
Isaac  Tomblin 
David  Maynard. 

Thomas  Rice's  Garison. 
John  Pratt 
Charles  Rice. 


Thomas  Hapgood's  Garison. 
John  Farbush 


John  Wheeler 
Josiah  How 

B Curly  (Kerly)  Senior 

Jam«s  Curly. 

Simon  Mainard's  Garison. 

Adam  Holloway 
Benjamin  Whitney 
Joseph  Newton 
John  Keyes 
Abrell  Bush. 

Mill  Garison. 
Thomas  Barret 
John  Banister. 

John  Newton  Jr's  Garison. 
Eliazer  Bellows 
John  Bellows 
James  Eager 
James  Newton 
Benjamin  Newtoa 
Ephraim  Newton 
John  Woods 
Abraham  Newton. 

Jonathan  Newton's  Garison. 
Is.  Woods 
Thomas  Witherby 
Is.  Amsden 
Moses  Lenard 
Roger  Bruce. 

Joseph  Morse's  Garis«n. 
Thomas  Biglo 
Samuel  Biglo 
Samuel  Mors 
John  Biglo 


John  Sherman 
Daniel  Harington 

THOMAS  HOW 

SAMUEL  BRIGHAM 

ISAAC  AMSDEN 

ELEAZER  HOW 

DANIEL  HOW 

JOHN  BOUKER 

JONATHAN  JOHNSON 

NATHANIEL  JOSLIN 

PETER  RICE 

JOHN  MA1NARD 

JOHN  BARRETT 


A 
d 


I] 


■ 


■ 
•  Committee," 


SO  HISTORY  OF  KORTHBOROUGH. 

of  the  inhabitants  of  what  is  now  Westborough,  while  at  work  in 
the  field ;  killed  Nahor,  a  son  oi  Mr.  Edmund  Rice,  on  the  spot, 
seized  and  carried  into  captivity  two  other  sons,  Silas  and  Timo- 
thy ;  also  Ashur  and  Adonijah,  two  sons  of  Mr.  Thomas  Rice. 
Ashur  was  redeemed  by  his  father,  and  returned  in  about  four  years. 
He  afterwards  settled  in  Spencer.  Adonijah  remained  in  Canada, 
cultivated  a  farm  in  the  vicinity  of  Montreal.  His  Indian  name  was 
Asaunaugooton.  The  other  two  lived  among  the  Indians,  married 
Indian  wives,  acquired  their  habits,  and  lost  all  knowledge  of  the 
English  language.  The  puritanical  names  of  Silas  and  Timothy 
were  changed  into  the  heathenish,  but  not  unmusical  ones  of  Too- 
kanowras  and  Oughtsorongoughton.  The  latter  is  said  to  have 
been  the  third  of  the  six  chiefs  of  the  Cagnawaga  tribe,  and  the 
one  who  made  the  speech  to  Gen.  Gage,  in  behalf  of  his  tribe, 
soon  after  the  reduction  of  Montreal.  This  chief,  in  the  year  1740, 
thirty  six  years  after  his  captivity,  visited  his  relations  in  Westbo- 
rough, and  retained,  it  is  said,  a  distinct  recollection  of  the  circum- 
stances of  his  captivity,  and  of  several  aged  persons  then  living. 
Mr.  Seth  Rice,  father  of  the  late  Deac.  Seth  Rice,  and  who  died  in 
1796,  aged  91,  was  a  brother,  and  Thankful,  wife  of  the  late  Mr. 
Josiah  Rice,  was  a  sister,  of  the  above  named  Silas  and  Timothy. 

In  the  preceding  month,  (July)  two  of  the  inhabitants  of  Marl- 
borough, viz.  Abraham  How  and  Benjamin  Hutchins,  were  slain  by 
the  Indians  at  Lancaster. 

On  the  15th  of  October,  1705,  Mr.  John  Biglow,  of  Marlborough, 
being  then  at  Lancaster,  at  the  garrison  house  of  Mr.  Thomas  Saw- 
yer, was,  with  Mr.  Sawyer  and  his  son  Elias,  taken  by  the  Indians, 
and  conveyed  to  Canada.  They  obtained  their  release  in  the  fol- 
lowing manner:  Both  of  them  were  ingenious  mechanics,  one, 
(Sawyer)  a  blacksmith,  the  other,  (Biglow)  a  carpenter.  While 
they  were  at  Montreal,  thpy  proposed  to  the  French  Governor,  who 
resided  in  that  city,  that,  in  case  he  would  procure  their  ransom, 
they  would  erect  for  him  a  saw  mill,  there  being  none  at  that  time 
in  all  Canada.  The  offer  was  readily  accepted  ;  they  fulfilled  their 
engagement,  and,  after  some  delays,  were  permitted  to  return  to 
their  friends,  with  whom  they  lived  to  a  good  old  age.  Mr.  Big- 
low,  in  token  of  his  gratitude  for  his  remarkable  deliverance  from 
captivity,  called  his  daughter,  born  soon  after  his  return,  "  Free- 
dom ;"  and  a  second,  born  some  time  afterwards,  he  called  "  Com- 
fort," as  expressive  of  the  happiness  and  peace  he  then  enjoyed, 
contrasted  with   the   hardships  and  fears  of  a  state  of  captivity. 


HISTORY  OF  NORTITEOROUGir.  3  1 

Comfort  was  married  to  Joseph  Briffham,  the  father  of  Mr.  Jonah 
Brigham,  of  this  (own,  who,  when  a  child,  often  listened  to  the  »c- 
count  given  by  his  grandfather  Biglow,  of  the  circumstances  of  his 
captivity  and  escape. 

In  1707,  August  18th,  the  following  tragical  event  occurred  in 
what  is  now  the  easterly  part  of  N'orthhorough.  There  was  at 
this  time  a  garrison  house  standing  on  the  south  side  of  the  road, 
near  the  brook,  known  by  the  name  of  Stirrup  Erook,  which  cros- 
ses the  great  road  between  the  farms  of  Messrs.  Jonas  and  Gill 
Bartlett,  then  in  the  possession  of  Samuel  Goodenow.  As  Mary 
Goodenow,  daughter  of  Samuel,  and  Mrs.  Mary  Fay,  wife  of  Ger- 
shom  Fay,  were  gathering  herbs  in  the  adjoining  meadow,  a  parly 
of  Indians,  twenty  four  in  number,  all  of  whom  are  said  to  have 
been  stout  warriors,  were  seen  issuing  from  the  woods  and  making 
towards  them.  Mrs.  Fay  succeeded  in  effecting  her  escape.  She 
was  closely  pursued  by  a  party  of  the  enemy  ;  but  before  they 
came  up,  had  time  to  enter  the  garrison,  and  to  fasten  the  gate  of 
the  enclosure.  There  fortunately  happened  to  be  one  man  then 
within,  the  rest  of  the  men  belonging  to  the  garrison  being  in  the 
fields  at  work.  Their  savage  invaders  attempted  in  vain  to  break 
through  the  enclosure.  These  heroic  defenders,  by  dint  of  great 
exertion,  maintained  the  unequal  conflict,  till  a  party  of  friends, 
alarmed  by  the  report  of  the  muskets,  came  to  their  relief,  when 
the  enemy  betook  themselves  to  flight.* 

The  other  unfortunate  young  woman,  Miss  Goodenow,  being  re- 
tarded in  her  flight  by  lameness,  was  seized  by  her  merciless  pur- 
suers, dragged  across  the  brook  to  the  side  of  the  hill,  a  little  south 
of  the  road,  where  she  was  killed  and  scalped,  and  where  her  man- 
gled body  was  afterwards  found  and  buried,  and  where  her  grave 
is  shown  at  this  day. 

On  the  following  day,  the  enemy  were  pursued  by  a  company 
of  about  thirty  men,  from   Marlborough  and  Lancaster,  and  over- 

*  Mrs.  Fay,  it  is  said,  discovered  great  presence  of  mind  during  this  as- 
sault, being  constantly  employed  in  loading  and  reloading  the  muskets  be- 
longing to  the  garrison,  anci  handing  them  to  her  companion,  who  by  this 
means  was  able  to  keep  up  a  constant  fire  upon  the  invaders.  No  wonder 
that  she  was  brave,  for  she  had  much  at  stake.  She  was  then  the  mother  of 
two  young  children,  one  four,  and  the  other  two  years  old.  Gershcm,  fath- 
er of  the  late  Thaddeus  Fay,  and  Mary,  afterwards  married  to  George  Sipitb* 
Her  third,  called  Susanna,  who  was  born  on  the  l&thof  the  following  Novem- 
ber, was  subject  to  a  constant  nervous  trembling,  caused,  it  is  supposed,  by 
the  mother's  fright,  received  at  this  time.  At  her  father's  death,  Nov.  24, 
1720,  she  was  left  to  the  care  of  her  brother,  the  late  Timothy  Fay,  with 
whom  she  lived  till  her  decease. 


32  HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROUGH. 

taken  in  what  is  now  Sterling,  where  a  hard  conflict  ensued,  in 
which  nine  of  their  number,  and  two  of  our  men  were  slain.  In 
one  of  their  packs  was  found  the  scalp  of  the  unfortunate  Miss 
Goodenow,  which  was  the  first  intimation  that  was  obtained  of  her 
melancholy  fate. 

Nothing  worthy  of  record  is  preserved  of  what  took  place  be- 
tween this  period*  and  the  incorporation  of  the  westerly  part  of 
Marlborough,  then  called  Chauncey  Village,  and  including  what  is 
now  Westborough  and  Northborough.  The  act  of  incorporation  is 
dated  November  19,  1717,  O.  S.  or,  in  our  present  reckoning,  No- 
vember 30. 

In  the  fall  of  1718,  the  first  meeting  house  was  raised,  which 
stood  near  the  northern  limits  of  Westborough,  not  far  from  the 
public  house  kept  by  Mr.  Silas  Wesson.  It  was  not,  however,  till 
October  28,  1724,  or  nearly  seven  years  after  the  town  was  incor- 
porated, that  a  church  was  gathered,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Parkman, 
the  first  minister  of  Westborough,  was  ordained. 

It  was  at  this  house  that  our  fathers,  the  first  settlers  of  North- 
borough,  worshipped  for  more  than  twenty  years,  some  of  them 
being  accustomed  to  walk  every  Sabbath  the  distance  of  five  or 
six  miles. 

At  length,  October  20,  1744,  the  town  of  Westborough,  consist- 
ing at  that  time  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  five  families,  was  di- 
vided into  two  precincts  ;  the  north  part,  to  use  the  words  of  Rev. 
Mr.  Parkman,  "being  indeed  very  small. "t  The  number  of  families 
set  off"  to  the  north  precinct  was  only  thirty  eight ;  while  eighty 
seven  families  remained  attached  to  the  old  society.  Nor  was  the 
separation  effected  without  much  opposition,  and  mutual  recrimina- 
tion, the  unhappy  effects  of  which  lasted  many  years. 

Having  arrived  at  that  period  of  our  history,  when  Northbo- 
rough became  a  separate  precinct,  we  proceed  to  give  some  ac- 
count of  its  boundaries,  dimensions,  face  of  the  soil,  Sic. 

*  I  find,  from  a  record  kept  by  Col.  Williams,  of  Marlborough,  that  Jon- 
athan Johnson  was  slain  by  the  Indians,  October  12,  1708,  but  at  what  place, 
and  under  what  circumstances,  I  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain. 

t  The  act  of  the  General  Court,  setting  off  the  north  part  of  Westbo- 
rouo'h  as  a  separate  precinct,  provides,  'k  that  the  Inhabitants  of  said  north 
part  should  give  security  to  Rev.  Mr.  Parkman,  their  present  pastor,  to  give 
him  £100,  lawful  money,  settlement,  and  £50,  like  money,  per  annum,  in 
case  he  should  incline  to  settle  with  them,  agreeably  to  what  they  now  prom- 
ise ;  or  otherwise,  £12,  10*.  like  money,  if  he  chooses  to  continue  in  the  south 
part."  It  is  unnecessary  to  add,  that  Rev.  Mr.  Parkman  chose  to  remain 
the  minister  of  the  old  parish.  He  died  Dec.  9,  1782,  in  the  80th  year  of  hi* 
age,  and  the  59th  of  his  ministry. 


HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROUGH.  33 

Boundaries,  fee. — A  plan  of  the  town  was  made  in  1795,  by  Mr. 
Silas  Keyes,  surveyor,  then  an  inhabitant  of  the  place.  According 
to  this  plan,  Northborough  contained  10096  acres,  including  ponds 
and  roads.  Since  that  date,  that  is,  Feb.  15,  1806,  the  dividing 
line  between  this  town  and  Berlin,  was  by  mutual  consent,  altered 
so  as  to  bring  both  towns  into  a  better  shape  ;  and  in  June  20,  1 807, 
the  line  between  Northborough  and  Marlborough  was  altered,  so 
as  to  include  the  farm  of  Deac.  Jonas  Bartlett,  within  the  limits  of 
this  town.  In  its  present  state,  the  town  contains  about  10,150 
acres. 

The  boundaries  according  to  the  plan  made  in  1795,  are  as  fol- 
lows* : — Beginning  at  the  southwest  corner,  at  a  heap  of  stones  on 
Shrewsbury  line,  it  thence  runs  east,  nineteen  degrees  north,  four 
hundred  and  eighty  nine  rods,  to  a  stake  by  the  river  Assabeth  ; 
thence,  in  a  northeasterly  direction,  as  the  river  runs,  one  hundred 
and  seventy  six  rods,  to  the  County  road,  near  the  dwelling  house 
of  Phineas  Davis,  Esq. ;  thence,  by  said  river,  one  hundred  and 
ninety  four  rods,  to  a  stake  and  stones  ;  thence  east,  twenty  degrees 
north,  eight  hundred  and  sixty  four  rods,  to  a  stake  and  stones  on 
Southborough  line.  (The  above  are  the  boundaries  between 
Northborough  and  Westborough.)  From  the  last  mentioned  bounds, 
the  line  runs  north,  thirty  two  degrees  west,  one  hundred  and  forty 
rods  by  Southborough,  to  a  stake  and  stones  at  the  corner  of  Marl- 
borough. (The  above  are  the  boundaries  between  Northborough 
and  Southborough.)  From  Marlborough  corner  the  line  ran,  ac- 
cording to  the  plan  of  Mr.  Keyes,  north,  thirty  degrees  forty  five 
minutes  west,  one  hundred  and  eighty  seven  rod*,  to  a  stake  and 
stones;  thence  north,  forty  degrees  thirty  minutes  west,  one  hun- 
dred and  ten  rods,  to  do. ;  thence  north,  twenty  two  degrees  thirty 
minutes  west,  one  hundred  and  forty  eight  rods,  to  do.  ;  thence 
north,  thirty  two  degrees  west,  forty  rods,  to  a  swamp  white  oak; 
thence  north,  twenty  nine  degrees  west,  seventy  two  rods,  to  a 
stake  and  stones;  thence  north,  thirty  degrees  west,  sixty  four  rods, 
to  do.  by  the  County  road  ;  thence  north,  thirty  one  degrees  forty 
minutes  west,  seventy  seven  rods,  to  do. ;  thence  north,  twenty 
eight  degrees  fifteen  minutes  west,  one  hundred  and  twenty  eight 
rods,  to  a  walnut  tree  by  the  river;  thence  north,  thirty  three  de- 
grees thirty  minutes  west,  sixty  eight  rods,  to  a  large  oak  tree 
marked;  thence   north,   twenty  seven   degrees   west,  forty  seven 

*  For  the  alterations  referred  to  above,  see  Massachusetts  Special  Laws,, 
Tol.  IV.  p.  3  and  112. 


34  HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROUGH. 

rods,  to  a  pine  tree  marked ;  thence  north,  thirty  one  degrees  thir- 
ty minutes  west,  one  hundred  and  twenty  nine  rods,  to  a  stake  and 
stones  by  Berlin  line  or  corner.  (The  above  were  the  former 
bounds  between  Northborough  and  Marlborough  ;  for  the  alteration 
see  note.)  From  Berlin  corner,  the  line  ran  north,  thirty  degrees 
west,  one  hundred  and  forty  eight  rods,  to  a  heap  of  stones  ;  thence 
east,  thirty  two  degrees  north,  ninety  rods,  to  the  Long  Stone,  so 
called  ;  thence  west,  sixteen  degrees  north,  eight  hundred  and  ten 
rods,  to  a  heap  of  stones  on  Boylston  line.  (These  were  the  for- 
mer bounds  between  Northborough  and  Berlin  ;  for  the  alteration 
see  note.)  Thence  south,  sixteen  degrees  west,  eight  hundred 
and  sixty  eight  rods,  to  a  heap  of  stones  at  Shrewsbury  corner. 
(This  is  the  line  between  Northborough  and  Boylston.)  Thence 
south,  sixteen  degrees  west,  one  hundred  and  forty  nine  rods,  to  a 
heap  of  stones.  (This  is  supposed  to  be  on  or  near  the  old  Marl- 
borough line,  which  extended  thence  in  one  direction  to  the  north- 
west corner  of  Marlborough.)  Thence  south,  twenty  four  degrees 
east,  one  hundred  and  eighty  two  rods,  to  a  great  oak  ;  thence 
south,  twenty  one  degrees  east,  one  hundred  and  fifty  rods,  to  a 
heap  of  stones  ;  thence  south,  one  degree  east,  twenty  rods  to  the 
County  road  ;  thence,  in  the  same  direction,  three  hundred  and 
seventeen  rods,  to  a  red  oak  ;  thence  south,  twenty  eight  degrees 
thirty  five  minutes  east,  one  hundred  and  ninety  four  rods,  to  where 
it  began.  (These  are  the  bounds  between  Nortbborough  and 
Shrewsbury.) 

Besides  what  was  originally  a  part  of  Marlborough,  this  town 
includes  a  large  triangular  tract,  lying  north  of  the  old  Marlborough 
line,  (of  which  the  Coram  Farm  and  the  Brown  Farm  made  apart) 
and  containing,  as  has  been  estimated,  between  two  and  three  thou- 
sand acres.  This  tract,  with  several  others  now  in  the  westerly 
part  of  Westborougb,  was  surveyed  in  January  and  February, 
1715-16,  by  VYm.  Ward,  and  annexed  to  Cbauncey  Village  by  a 
grant  of  the  General  Court,  before  the  latter  was  separated  from 
Marlborough. 

In  March  and  April,  1721,  this  tract  was  asrain  surveyed  by 
James  Keyes;  and  a  committee,  consisting  of  John  Sherman,  Da- 
vid Brigham,  and  Joseph  Wheeler,  was  appointed  to  lay  it  out  in 
forty  five  shares,  according  to  the  number  of  the  proprietors,  which 
shares  were  afterwards  divided  among  them  by  lot. 

Besides  the  above  tract,  the  principal  part  of  the  farm  of  Deac. 


HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROUGH.  35 

Caleb  Rice,  of  Marlborough,*  which  lay  without  the  original  boun- 
daries of  the  town,  with  another  tract  nearly  as  large,  adjoining  the 
former,  falls  within  the  limits  of  Northborough,  forming  the  south- 
west angle  of  the  town. 

Northborough  is  of  an  irregular  form,  its  average  length  being 
about  five  miles,  and  its  average  breadth  somewhat  more  than 
three  miles. 

Surface,  Soil,  &c. — The  principal  part  of  the  town  consists  of 
a  valley,  environed  by  the  hills  of  Marlborough  on  the  east,  Berlin 
on  the  north,  and  Boylston  and  Shrewsbury  on  the  west,  and  open- 
ing into  Westborough  on  the  south,  which  town  is  an  extension  of 
the  same  low  grounds.  The  surface  of  this  valley  is,  however,  di- 
versified by  numerous  hills,  some  of  which  are  so  considerable  as 
to  be  distinguished  by  r.ames.  The  northwest  corner  of  the  town, 
comprehending  five  or  six  good  farms,  and  more  than  1000  acres  of 
land,  forms  part  of  the  ridge  of  high  land,  running  from  Berlin, 
through  Boylston  and  Shrewsbury,  and  is  commonly  called  Ball's 
Hill.t 

Liquor  Hill  is  a  beautiful  eminence,  rising  with  a  gentle  decliv- 
ity from  the  great  road,  nearly  opposite  to  the  church,  skirted  with 
forest  trees,  while  its  summit  and  its  northern  and  southern  declivi- 
ties are  open  to  the  view  and  form  a  rich  and  pleasing  prospect. 
Edmund  Hill,  about  a  mile  in  the  northerly  direction  from  the 
church,  and  Cedar  Hill,  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the  town,  are 
similar  in  form  to  L:otuor  Hill,  but  less  open  to  observation. 

Northborough  is  well  supplied  with  streams  of  water.  The 
principal  stream  is  the  river  Assabeth,  which,  rising  in  Grafton,  and 
crossing  an  angle  of  Westborough,  Hows  diagonally  in  a  northeast- 
ern direction,  through  this  town,  crossing  the  great  road,  about 
half  a  mile  east  of  the  church,  and  furnishing  several  valuable  wa- 
ter privileges. 

Cold  Harbour  Brook  rises  in   Shrewsbury,  crosses  the  southeast 
corner  of  Boylston,  and  enters  this  town.     Having  received  a  small 

*  Dear.  Caleb  Rice  was  the  father  of  the  late  Josiah  Rice,  of  this  town, 
who.  died  1792,  aged  92,  and  who  came  into  possession  of  the  farm  abovemen- 
tioned,  and  wa3  one  of  the  greatest  landholders  in  the  town.  That  farm 
alone  contained  above  five  hundred  acres,  besides  which,  he  owned  several 
hundred  acres  in  other  parts  of  the  town. 

t  So  called  from  two  brothers,  James  and  Nathan  Ball,  from  Watertown, 
who  settled  there  about  the  year  1720,  and  where  some  of  their  descendants 
still  live.  James,  the  father  of  the  late  Doct.  Stephen  Ball,  and  grandfather 
of  the  present  Doct.  Stephen  Ball,  Sen.  died  1756,  aged  6.2.  Nathan,  father 
of  Nathan  Ball,  died  1768,  aged  73. 

VOL.  II.  21 


.36  HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROUGH. 

tributary  stream  from  Rocky  Pond,  in  Boylston,  and  supplying  wa- 
ter for  a  Grist  and  Saw  Mill,  it  flows  in  a  very  circuitous  route 
through  a  tract  of  rich  intervales  and  extensive  meadows,  crossing 
the  road  at  Cold  Harbour  bridge,  a  few  rods  south  of  the  church, 
and  having  received  another  small  stream  from  the  west,  on  which 
a  Saw  Mill  is  erected,  it  falls  into  the  Assabeth,  a  little  below  where 
the  latter  crosses  the  great  road. 

In  the  easterly  part  of  the  town,  a  small  stream,  called  Stirrup 
Brook,  issuing  from  Little  Chauncey  Pond,  furnishes  a  supply  of 
water  for  a  Saw  Mill,  and  is  bordered  by  a  rich  intervale  and 
meadows. 

Another  small  stream,  called  Hop  Brook,  from  the  abundance 
of  wild  hops  which  formerly  grew  on  its  banks,  rises  in  Shrews- 
bury, crosses  the  southwest  angle  of  this  town,  furnishing  water 
for  two  Saw  Mills  and  one  Grist  Mill,  and  falls  into  the  Assabeth, 
soon  after  that  river  enters  the  town.  It  appears,  therefore,  that 
all  the  waters  of  Northborough  fall  into  the  Assabeth,  which  con- 
veys them  to  the  Merrimack  between  Chelmsford  and  Tewksburj'. 

The  two  principal  ponds  in  Northborough  are  the  Little  Chaun- 
cey, in  the  southeastern  part  of  the  town,  containing  sixty  five  acres, 
and  Solomon's  Pond,  in  the  northeastern  part,  containing  twenty  six 
acres.  Little  Chauncey  takes  its  name  from  Great  Chauncey,  in 
Wesl borough,  with  which  it  is  connected  by  a  small  stream.  It  is 
a  beautiful  sheet  of  water,  well  stored  with  fish,  its  borders  in  part 
fringed  with  woods,  while  to  the  east,  it  opens  towards  cultivated 
fields.  Solomon's  Pond,  so  named  from  Solomon,  an  Indian,  who 
was  drowned  in  it,  is  not  destitute  of  beauty,  and  is  encompassed 
by  a  tract  of  excellent  land. 

The  soil  is  in  general  rich  and  productive,  the  poorest  being, 
as  Whitney  justly  observes,  that  u  which  appears  as  we  travel  the 
great  road."  In  the  northern  part  of  the  town,  the  land  is  rocky 
and  hard,  though  it  produces  good  crops  of  hay  and  grain.  In  the 
middle  and  southern  parts  the  land  is  more  level,  and  if  not  more 
productive,  is  cultivated  with  much  less  labor  and  expense. 

Roads,  &c. — The  principal  road  is  the  old  Worcester  Post  road, 
which  passes  through  the  middle  of  the  town,  about  forty  rods  south 
of  the  Meeting  House.  The  distance  to  Boston  from  this  town  is 
34  miles  ;  to  Worcester  10  miles.  Four  Stages,  furnishing  a  daily 
Mail  from  the  east  and  from  the  west,  pass  on  this  road  every  day, 
Sundays  excepted. 

The  old  County  road  from  Framingham  to  Worcester,  also  leads 


HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROUGH.  37 

through  the  south  part  of  the  town  ;  and  the  Worcester  Turnpike 
crosses  the  southwest  angle,  passing  one  house  only  in  Northbo- 
rough.  The  roads  from  Lancaster  to  this  place,  one  of  which  pas- 
ses the  Meeting  House  in  Berlin,  and  that  from  Boylston,  are  much 
travelled.  The  distance  to  Lancaster  is  10  miles;  to  Boylston  6; 
to  Westborough  4^  miles. 

The  highways  are  kept  in  repair  by  an  annual  tax  of  from  $500 
to  $800. 

Mills,  Manufactories,  kc. — Northborough  contains  at  present 
four  Grist  Mills,  five  Saw  Mills,  two  Carding  Machines,  a  manufac- 
tory for  Hoes  and  Scythes  ;  large  and  commodious  works  recently 
established  by  Capt.  Thomas  W.  Lyon,  for  manufacturing  Cotton 
Machinery  ;  an  extensive  Tannery  owned  by  Phinehas  and  Joseph 
Davis,  Esquires,  whose  annual  sales  of  leather  amount  to  $20,000. 
There  are  also  six  Coopers,  four  Blacksmiths,  one  Saddle  and  Har- 
ness Maker,  one  Book  Binder,  three  Wheelwrights,  eight  or  ten 
Shoemakers,  who,  besides  supplying  the  wants  of  the  town,  manu- 
facture about  4000  pairs  of  shoes  annually  for  a  foreign  market. 
The  Cotton  Factory,  built  in  1814,  by  the  Northborough  Manufac- 
turing Company,  at  an  expense  of  about  $30,000,  was  lately  sold  at 
auction,  and  is  now  in  the  possession  of  Rogerson  &  Co.  of  Boston, 
and  Isaac  Davis,  Esq.  and  Mr.  Asaph  Rice,  of  this  town.  It  stands 
on  the  river  Assabeth,  which  furnishes  a  sufficient  supply  of  water 
during  the  principal  part  of  the  season  ;  and  contains  over  700  spin- 
dles for  Cotton,  and  100  for  Woollen,  10  looms,  a  fulling  mill,  card- 
ing machine,  &c.  and  manufactures  80,000  yards  of  cloth  annually. 

There  are  in  the  town,  two  stores,  furnished  with  a  good  as- 
sortment of  English  and  West  India  Goods,  the  one  kept  by  Gale 
&  Davis ;  the  other  by  Rice,  Farnsworth,  &  Co. 

Population,  Deaths,  &c. — At  the  time  of  the  ordination  of  Rev. 
Mr.  Martyn,  (1746)  there  were  40  families  in  the  place  ;  the  num- 
ber had  increased  to  82  families  at  the  ordination  of  Rev.  Mr.  Whit- 
ney, (1767);  and,  in  1796,  to  more  than  110  families.  By  the  cen- 
sus of  1810,  the  number  of  inhabitants  was  794;  by  that  of  1820, 
1018,  making  an  increase  of  224  in  ten  years.  By  a  census  taken 
the  last  winter,  however,  and  which  it  is  believed  is  very  nearly 
accurate,  the  whole  number  of  inhabitants  was  only  946,  of  whom 
488  were  males,  and  458  females. 

In  the  autumn  of  1746,  the  year  that  Rev.  Mr.  Martyn  was  or- 
dained, and  for  several  following  years,  particularly  in  1749  and 
1750,  this  society  was  visited  by  a  very  mortal  sickness  among 


38  HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROUGH. 

children,  by  which  the  growth  of  the  society  must  have  been  very 
sensibly  checked,  and  which  must  have  been  attended  with  circum- 
stances of  peculiar  distress.* 

Sixty  children,  out  of  a  population  which  could  not  have  much 
exceeded  three  hundred,  fell  victims  to  the  desolating  pestilence  ; 
and,  with  the  exception  01"  one  adult,  (Benjamin  Rugg,  a  stranger,) 
were  the  first  persons  that  were  buried  in  the  new  church  yard.t 

This  was  the  last  sweeping,  mortal  sickness,  with  which  this 
place  has  been  visited. 

Since  the  great  sicknesss,  in  the  years  1749  and  1750,  no  town 
in  this  vicinity  has  been  more  exempt  from  wasting,  mortal  distem- 
pers. The  number  of  deaths  from  1780,  to  1800,  including  a  peri- 
od of  twenty  years,  amounted  to  only  146,  averaging  a  little  more 
than  7  in  a  year.  During  the  first  twenty  five  years  of  the  present 
century,  the  number  was  282.  The  average  number  for  the  last 
ten  years  has  been  about  ll£  annually,  in  a  population  of  nearly  a 
thousand  souls.  The  whole  number  of  deaths  from  1780,  to  the 
present  date,  (June,  1826)  is  450  ;  of  whom  seventy  eight  were  70 
years  and  upwards  ;  forty  three,  80  years  and  upwards  ;  seventeen, 
90  years  and  upwards;  one  (Wid.  Hannah  Fay J)  in  her  hundredth 
year;  and  one  (Deac.  Jonathan  Livermore§)  one  hundred  years 
and  seven  months.     There  are  now  living  in  this  town,  five  or  six 

*The  sickness  which  prevailed  in  1746,  Capt.  Timothy  Brigham  informs 
me,  was  the  dysentery,  then  called,  "  the  fevf-r  and  flux.1'  Capt.  B.  then  a 
child  of  10  years  old,  lost  a  sister,  and  was  himself  sick  of  the  disease-  He 
thinks  that  as  many  as  30  children  died  that  year,  in  this  place.  He  recol- 
lects being  attended  in  his  sickness  by  Doct.  Benjamin  Gott,  of  Marlborough. 
The  sickness  of  1749  and  1750,  was  the  "  throat  distemper^1'  as  it  was  termed, 
which,  for  many  years  after  its  first  appearance  in  New  England,  proved  such 
a  desolating  scourge. 

tThe  old  burying  ground,  in  which  many  of  the  first  settlers  of  North- 
borough  were  interred,  is  eayt  of  the  road  leading  to  YYestborough,  a  little 
south  of  the  dwelling  house  of  Mr.  William  Maynard.  It  is  now  overgrown 
with  trees  and  brush. 

$  Widow  Haniiah  Fay  was  a  daughter  of  Nathaniel  Oaks,  was  married 
to  G.  rshom  Fay,  father  of  the  late  Thaddeus  Fay,  and  died,  March  8,  1806, 
aged  100. 

$  Deac.  Livermore  came  from  Watertown  about  A.  D.  1720,  and  settled 
on  the  Brown  farm,  so  called,  where  Davil  Dinsmore  now  lives.  He  was  the 
first  Parish  Clerk  in  this  place,  which  office  he  held  many  years.  He  died 
April  26,  1801,  aged  101.  A  short  time  after  he  was  1U0  jears  old,  he  rode 
on  horseback  from  his  bouse  to  a  military  review,  near  the  middle  of  the 
town,  the  distance  of  three  miles,  and  returned  without  fatigue.  He  posses- 
sed uncommon  learning  for  his  time,  was  an  accurate  surveyor,  and  an  excel- 
lent penman,  owmg  to  which  circumstance,  the  early  records  of  the  town  ap- 
pear in  a  remarkably  fine  state. 


HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROUGIT.  39 

persons  over  eighty  years  ;  and  one,  (Capt.  Timothy  Brigham,*) 
in  his  ninety  first  year.  One  couple  (Capt.  Amos  Ricet  and  his 
wife)  still  survive,  who  were  joined  in  marriage  before  the  death 
of  Rev.  Mr.  Martyn,  who  baptised  their  first  child.  They  were 
married  May  8th,  H66,  and  have  lived  together  more  than  sixty 
years. 

The  average  number  of  births  for  a  year,  has  been,  of  late,  about 
thirty  ;  which,  deducting  the  deaths,  will  give  an  annual  increase  of 
from  fifteen  to  twenty  souls. 

Civil  History. — Nothing  has  been  found  on  record  relating  to 
the  part  which  this  town  bore  in  the  old  French  wars,  as  we  have 
been  accustomed  to  hear  them  called  by  our  aged  fathers.  We 
learn,  however,  from  the  few  who  survive  of  the  generation  then 
on  the  stage  of  active  life,  that  this  small  district  was  not  backward 
in  furnishing  men  to  join  the  several  expiditions,  which  were  under- 
taken for  the  conquest  of  the  French  in  Canada. 

Eliphalet  Warren,  John  Carruth,  and  Adam  Fay,  joined  the  ex- 
pedition to  Halifax,  in  1754.  In  the  following  year,  Benjamin  Flood 
and  Eber  Eager,  the  latter  of  whom  did  not  live  to  return,  were  at 
Crown  point.  In  1758,  the  eight  following  persons  were  with  the 
army  under  General  Abercromhie,  at  his  defeat  before  Ticondero- 
ga.  Capt.  Timothy  Brigham,  [now  living  and  who  retains  a  per- 
fect recollection  of  the  scenes  he  passed  through  in  this  ill-fated 
expedition,]  Eliphalet  Stone,  Samuel  Stone,  [who  died  on  his  re- 
turn,] Benjamin  Flood,  Josiah  Bowker,  Samuel  Morse,  Gideon  How- 
ard, and  Joel  Rice.  Capt.  Brigham  says  that  the  attack  upon  the 
French  lines  commenced  at  5  o'clock,  A.  M.  and  lasted  till  7  o'clock, 
P.  M.  ;  and  that  over  1900  of  our  men  were  missing  at  the  calling 
of  the  rolls  that  evening.  Capt.  B.  says  that  after  this  repulse,  the 
army  retreated  to  Lake  George,  soon  after  which,  the  company  to 

*Capt.  Timothy  Brigham  is  a  son  of  Jesse,  who  was  a  son  of  Jonathan, 
■who  was  a  son  of  Thomas  Brigham,  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Marlborough, 
He  was  present  at  the  defeat  oi  the  English,  under  Abercromhie,  hefore  Ti- 
conderoga,  in  1758,  and  Lieutenant  of  the  company  of  minute  >r,f-n  that  march- 
ed down  to  Cambridge  on  the  memorable  19th  of  April,  1775.  Jonathan 
Brigham  was  in  the  Indian  fight,  at  Lancaster,  (now  Sterling)  Aug.  19,  HO?, 
and  stood  next  to  Richard  Singletary,  who  was  killed  in  the  action.  This 
fact,  Capt.  B.  had  from  his  own  mouth. 

t  Capt.  Amos  Rice  is  a  son  of  Jacob,  who  was  a  son  of  Jacob,  who  was 
a  son  of  Edward,  one  of  the  13  original  petitioners  for  the  Plantation  ol  Marl- 
borough. Benjamin,  another  son  of  Edward,  was  the  father  of  Deac.  Matthi- 
as Rice,  and  of  Simeon  Rice,  late  of  this  town,  and  of  Zerubbahe]  Rice,  'ate 
of  Marlborough.  Tradition  says,  that  the  first  person  by  the  name  ot  Rice, 
who  emigrated  to  New  England,  had  eight  sons,  all  of  whem.  lived  to  be  90 
years  old  and  upwards. 


40  HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROCGH. 

which  he  belonged  (Capt.  Stephen  Maynard's  of  Westborough)  was 
dismissed  and  returned  home. 

There  is  one  man,  now  living  in  this  town,  at  the  age  of  88, 
nearly,  [Lieut.  Abraham  Munroe]  who  was  at  Halifax,  in  the  regi- 
ment of  Maj.  Rogers,  of  Londonderry,  N.  H.  in  the  year  1757, 
and,  at  the  taking  of  Ticonderoga  under  Gen.  Amherst,  in  1759. 
Mr.  Munroe  had  there  the  rank  of  Ensign  ;  and,  in  the  following 
year,  received  a  Lieutenancy.  He  served  in  the  regiment  of  Col. 
Saltonstal,  of  Haverhill;  and,  at  the  departure  of  our  army  for  Mon- 
treal, received  orders  to  remain  at  the  head  of  a  detachment  of 
men,  for  the  purpose  of  completing  the  repairs  of  the  fortifications 
at  Crown  Point.  Lieut.  Munroe  continued  at  Ticonderoga,  till  his 
discharge,  in  May,  1763,  under  Capt.  Omsbury,  or  Amsbury,  to 
whom  the  command  of  the  fort  had  been  committed. 

Several  other  persons  belonging  to  this  town,  whose  names  I 
have  not  learned,  were  in  service  at  different  times  during  the 
French  wars,  some  of  whom  did  not  live  to  return. 

The  following  particulars  have  been  collected  relating  to  the 
part  which  this  town  bore  in  the  burdens  and  privations  of  the 
revolutionary  war. 

It  appears  from  the  town  records,  that  the  inhabitants  of  this 
town,  took  an  early  and  decided  stand  in  defence  of  the  liberties  of 
our  country.  So  early  as  March,  22d,  1773,  more  than  two  years 
before  hostilities  commenced,  a  number  of  spirited  resolutions  were 
passed  at  a  district  meeting,  called  for  the  purpose,  among  which 
were  the  following : 

"  2.  Voted,  as  the  opinion  of  this  district,  that  it  is  the  indispen- 
sable duty  of  all  men  and  all  bodies  of  men  to  unite  and  strenuously 
to  oppose  by  all  lawful  ways  and  means,  such  unjust  and  unright- 
eous encroachments,  made  or  attempted  to  be  made  upon  their  just 
right?;  and  that  it  is  our  duty  earnestly  to  endeavor  to  hand  those 
rights  down  inviolate  to  our  posterity,  as  they  were  handed  to  us 
by  our  worthy  ancestors. 

"  3.  Voted,  that  the  thanks  of  this  district  be  given  to  the  town 
of  Boston  tor  their  friendly,  seasonable  and  necessary  intelligence  ; 
and  that  they  be  desired  to  keep  their  watch,  and  guard  against  all 
such  invaders  and  incroaches  for  the  future. 

"4.  Voted,  that  Capt.  Bez.  Eager,  Doct.  Stephen  Ball,  and  Mr. 
Timothy  Fay,  be  a  committee  to  make  answer  to  the  committee  of 
corres.,  at  Boston,  informing  them  of  the  opinion  of  this  district  in 
this  matter." 


HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROUGH.  41 

In  August  of  the  following  year,  eight  months  before  the  war 
commenced,  at  a  special  meeting  called  for  the  purpose,  the  district 
passed  the  following  vote. — u  That  we  are  determined  to  defend 
our  charter  rights  and  privileges,  at  the  risk  of  our  lives  and  for- 
tunes, and  that  the  town  desire  the  committee  of  correspondence,* 
to  write  to  their  brethren  in  Boston,  and  inform  them  thereof." 

In  November,  1774,  the  district  voted  to  appropriate  money  in 
the  treasury  to  buy  one  hundred  pounds  of  powder  ;  three  hundred 
pounds  of  lead,  and  two  hundred  and  forty  flints  ;  and  on  June  3d, 
177G,  it  was  resolved,  "that  it  was  the  mind  of  this  town  to  be  inde- 
pendent of  Great  Britain,  in  case  the  Continental  Congress  think 
proper  ;  and  that  we  are  ready  with  our  lives  and  fortunes,  if  in 
Providence  called,  to  defend  the  same." 

Some  time  before  the  war  broke  out,  a  company  of  fifty  minute 
men  was  raised  in  this  town,  under  the  command  of  the  late  Capt. 
Samuel  Wood,  who  held  themselves  in  readiness  to  march  at  a  mo- 
ment's warning,  whenever  and  wherever  hostilities  should  com- 
mence.! At  length  the  memorable  19th  of  April  arrived,  on  which 
day,  the  first  blood  in  our  Revolutionary  struggle  was  shed,  at  Lex- 
ington and  Concord.  On  the  same  day,  before  one  o'clock,  P.  M. 
the  tidings  reached  this  place.  The  company  of  minute  men  be- 
longing to  this  town  was  collecting  at  the  time  to  listen  to  an  oc- 
casional patriotic  discourse  from  Rev.  Mr.  Whitney.  They  were 
directed  without  a  moment's  dela3',  to  put  themselves  in  readiness 
to  march ;  and  in  three  or  four  hours  from  the  time  when  the  news 
arrived,  they  had  taken  leave  of  their  families  and  were  paraded 
in  the  yard  of  Capt.  Woods'  house,  whence  (the  Rev.  Mr.  Whitney 
having  in  a  fervent  prayer  commended  them  to  the  protection  of 
the  God  of  armies,)  they  immediately  set  out  on  their  march  for 
the  field  of  danger  and  of  blood. { 

*The  following  persons  were  a  standing  committee  of  Correspondence,  in 
1774.  Bezaleel  Eager,  Seth  Rice,  Jr.  Levi  Brigham,  Gillam  Bass,  and  John 
Ball.  In  the  following  year,  the  ever  memorable  1775,  there  were  seven  on 
the  committee  of  correspondence,  viz.  Thadeus  Fay,  John  Ball,  Joel  Rice, 
Amos  Rice,  [now  living]  Arteinas  Brigham,  Jethro  Peters,  and  Nathan  Green. 

f  April  10th,  1775,  the  town  voted  to  pay  fifty  minute  men  one  shilling 
each,  for  each  half'day  they  shall  meet  to  learn  the  Military  art,  for  sixteen 
half  days  ;  and  granted  £40  for  that  purpose.  The  town  also  voted  that  Mr. 
Timothy  Brigham,  Constable,  pay  to  Henry  Gardner,  Esq.  the  Province  tax, 
which  he  has  now  in  his  hands,  for  the  year  1773,  and  the  District  will  in- 
demnify him.  Also  Voted,  to  indemnify  the  Assessors  for  not  making  the 
province  tax  for  the  year  1774. 

%  Of  the  fifty  men  belonging  to  this  company,  the  following  persons  are 
aow  living  in  this  town.     Capt.  Timothy  Brigham,  then  the  Lieut,  of  the 


42  HISTORY   OF  NORTHBOROUGH. 

Nor  did  the  spirited  resolutions,  above  adverted  to,  end  in  idle 
words.  They  were  the  result  of  reflection  and  patriotic  principle  ; 
and  they  led  to  the  cheerful  endurance  of  privations  and  hardships, 
of  which  the  descendants  can  probably  form  no  adequate  concep- 
tion. 

At  one  time  five,  and  soon  after  three,  at  another  five,  at  anoth- 
er seven,  and  on  one  occasion  seventeen  men,  were  called  for  from 
this  small  town  by  the  General  Court,  and  were  marched  in  some 
instances,  several  hundred  miles,  to  mingle  in  the  scenes  of  war.* 

In  the  spring  of  1781,  agreeably  to  a  resolve  of  the  General 
Court,  this  town  was  divided  into  eight  classes,  each  class  being  re- 
quired to  furnish  a  man  to  serve  in  the  Continental  Arm}r  for  the 
term  of  three  years,  or  during  the  war.  And  what  is  worthy  of  re- 
mark, as  it  is  an  evidence  of  the  patriotic  spirit  which  prevailed 
among  this  people  in  the  preceeiling  autumn,  viz.  December  28, 
1780,  the  town,  taking  into  consideration  the  hardships  undergoue 
by  those  who  had  entered  into  the  service  of  their  country,  and  es- 
pecially the  losses  they  had  sustained,  by  being  paid  in  a  depreciat- 
ed currency,  generously  voted  to  raise  their  quota  of  men,  and  to 
pay  and  clothe  them  at  their  own  expense,  allowing  them  40  shill- 
ings each,  per  month,  in  hard  money,  and  £21  per  year,  also  in 
hard  money,  in  addition  to  their  clothes. t 

Six  men  more  were  called  for  from  this  town  in  the  following 
summer;  five  to  go  to  West  Point,  and  one  to  Rhode  Island,  who 
were  accordingly  raised,  and  the  town  granted  £122  5s.  in  hard 
money,  (or  $107,50,)  to  pay  the  same.  At  the  same  time,  they 
were  required  to  purchase,  for  the  use  of  the  army,  3518/6$.  of  beef, 
for  which  the  towu  granted  £77,  in  hard  money  (or  $256,66.)  The 
whole  amount  granted  at  this  meeting,  and  which  went  to  the  sup- 
port of  the  war,  was  therefore  $664, 16  in  hard  money;  which,  con- 
sidering the  population  of  the  town  and  the  value  of  hard  money 
at  that  period,  was  a  great  sum  and  must  have  been  felt  as  a  heavy 
burden.     Previous   to   the  June,    1778,  it   appears   from  the  town 

company,  Capt.  Amos  Rice,  Mr.  Isaac  How,  Mr.  Joseph  Sever,  Mr.  Reuben 
Babcock,  and  Mr.  Nathan  Rice.  Capt.  Samuel  Wood,  the  commander  of 
the  company,  died  September  21,  1818,  aged  75  years.  He  was  present,  aud 
received  a  slight  wound,  at  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill.  The  Ensign  of  the 
company  was  Mr.  Thomas  Sever,  now  of  Townsend,  in  this  state. 

*"July  13th,  1780,  the  town  voted  and  granted  the  sum  often  thousand 
pounds  to  pay  seventeen  men  hind  into  the  service,  nine  for  the  term  of  six 
months,  and  eight  for  the  term  of  three  months." 

t  Town  Records,  I.  p.  212. 


HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROUGH.  43 

records,  that  this  town  had  expended  in  money  and  service  towards 
carrying  on  the  war  £1474  14s.  Id.  in  a  depreciated  currency 
probably,  the  precise  value  of  which,  it  is  difficult  now  to  deter- 
mine.* 

Such,  we  presume  is  no  more  than  a  fair  specimen  of  the  bur- 
dens borne  by  the  community  in  support  of  the  war  of  our.  Indepen- 
dence, and  of  the  spirit  with  which  they  were  borne. 

In  many,  very  many  instances  indeed,  the  people  were  impov- 
erished and  brought  low.  But  they  were  not  disheartened;  and, 
by  the  smiles  of  a  merciful  Providence,  their  efforts  were  crowned 
with  complete  success.  Let  us  who  have  entered  into  ,their  labors 
not  forget  what  we  owe  to  that  far-famed  generation,  who  support- 
ed the  privations  and  hardships  of  a  long  and  harrassing  conflict,  in 
support  of  our  cherished  liberties.! 

The  number  was  small  of  those  who  had  refused  to  embark  in 
the  cause  of  liberty,  the  names  of  four  only  being  recorded  as  ab- 
sentees, whose  estates  were  confiscated  near  the  close  of  the  war.j 

The  patriotism  of  two  others  was  indeed  suspected,  and  they 
were  subjected  to  a  good  deal  of  inconvenience  in  consequence  of  it.§ 

*  The  town  records  contain  a  list  of  the  names  of  90  persons  (probably 
the  whole  number  who  paid  taxes)  with  the  amount  contributed  by  each. 

"  October  30,  1780,  the  town  granted  £6660  to  purchase  beef  for  the 
army."  This  1  suppose  was  when  the  depreciation  of  money  was  nearly,  or 
quite  at  the  lowest  ebb,  about  which  time,  £2933  6s.  8d.  were  granted  to 
Rev.  Mr.  Whitney  by  an  unanimous  vote  of  the  town,  in  addition  to  his  yearly 
salary. 

"May  17,  1781,  the  town  granted  the  sum  of  £3300  0*.  Orf.  to  pay  for 
three  horses  for  the  use  of  the  Continental  army." 

t  Among  the  survivors  of  the  soldiers  of  the  revolution,  in  this  town,  five 
received  pensions  from  the  U.  States,  agreeably  to  the  law  passed,  April,  1818. 

From  all  these,  however,  with  the  exception  of  two,  one  of  whom  has  since 
died,  their  pensions  were  withdrawn,  after  the  modification  of  the  law,  in  1820. 
Since  that  time,  two  of  the  number,  reduced  to  poverty,  have  recovered  their 
pensions ;  and  the  only  remaining  one  from  whom  it  was  withdrawn,  and 
who,  depending  on  the  pension,  had  involved  himself  in  debt  in  erecting  a 
small  building  for  his  accommodation,  has  been  compelled  to  part  with  his 
snug  little  farm,  and  is  now,  in  his  old  age,  reduced  to  the  very  verge  of  abso- 
lute want.  Such,  so  far  as  I  have  witnessed  it,  has  been  the  operation  of  the 
laws  respecting  pensions  to  Revolutionary  Soldiers.  It  may  be  remarked 
moreover,  that  the  two  to  whom  the  pensions  were  continued,  had  been  a 
town  charge,  and  were  not  regarded  as  very  valuable  members  of  the  com- 
munity. 

JThese  were  James  Ea?er  and  his  son,  John  Eager  ;  and  Ebenezer  Cutler, 
and  Michael  Martyn,  sons  in  law  of  the  late  Capt.  James  Eager,  of  this  town. 

§  These  were  John  Taylor,  and  Sylvanus  Billings.  The  former,  a  gen- 
tleman of  handsome  property  and  who  had  been  one  of  the  leading  men  of 
the  town  ;  the  latter  also  a  man  of  considerable  estate. 


44  HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROUGH. 

After  the  close  of  the  war,  the  embarrassments  arising  from  the 
want  of  a  circulating  medium,  when  almost  all  were  deeply  involv- 
ed in  debt,  caused  much  uneasiness,  and  led  the  people  to  devise 
measures  for  their  removal.  August  7th,  1786,  Isaac  Davis  was 
Chosen  as  a  delegate  to  attend  a  County  Convention,  at  Leicester, 
oh  the  15th  inst.  to  whom  the  following,  among  other  instructions, 
were  given  by  a  committee  appointed  by  the  town.  The  delegate 
was  to  use  his  influence  "that  the  Convention  petition  his  Excel- 
lency, the  Governor,  and  Council,  to  call  the  General  Court  togeth- 
er, in  the  month  of  October  next,  at  fartherest ;  and  that  the  Conven- 
tion present  a  humble  and  decent  petition  to  the  General  Court  to 
set  up  and  establish  a  mint  in  the  Commonwealth,  &c."  Complaints 
were  also  made  of  the  salaries  of  the  civil  list,  being  so  high,  and  of 
various  other  grievances  under  which  the  people  labored.*  There 
was  nothing,  however,  of  the  spirit  of  rebellion  or  insubordination 
in  the  resolutions  that  were  passed  at  this  meeting,  or  in  the  con- 
duct which  followed  ;  and  though  it  appears  from  the  representa- 
tions of  all,  that  the  people  generally  were  reduced  to  the  greatest 
straits,  yet  only  three  or  four  individuals  were  found  willing  to 
join  in  the  rebellion  of  that  year,  and  to  seek  redress  by  measures 

of  violence.! 

Schools,  &c. — Previous  to  the  year  1766,  1  can  find  on  record, 
no  appropriations  made  for  the  education  of  youth.  But  I  am  in- 
formed that  several  instructors  had,  before  that  period,  been  em- 

*  There  prevailed,  at  this  time,  very  generally  through  the  country,  the 
most  violent  prejudices  against  the  profession  of  the  law.  One  of  the  instruc- 
tions given  to  the  delegate,  at  this  time,  was,  that  he  was  to  use  his  influence 
in  the  convention,  by  petitioning  and  remonstrating  to  the  General  Court, 
"  that  the  whole  order  of  Lawyers  be  annihilated  ;  for  we  conceive  them  not 
only  to  be  building  themselves  upon  the  ruins  of  the  distressed,  but  said  order 
has  increased,  and  is  daily  increasing,  far  beyond  any  olher  set  or  order  of 
men  among  us,  in  numbers  and  affluence  ;  and  we  apprehend  they  may  be- 
come ere  long  somewhat  dangerous  to  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  people." 

t  The  following  is  a  list  of  the  names  of  those  who  have  represented  this 
town  in  the  General  Court,  from  1775,  to  the  present  time. 

Col.  Levi  Brigham,  from  1775.  to  1777.— John  Ball,  1778,  1782,  and 
1785.— Deac.  Paul  Newton,  1779,' and  1780.— Deac.  Seth  Rice,  1783.— 
Deac.  Isaac  Davis,  seven  years — between  1787  and  1798. — Deac.  Nahum  Fay, 
1800  and  1801. — James  Keyes,  Esq.  eighteen  years,  from  1802,  to  the  present 
time. 

From  the  above  account,  it  appears  that  this  town  has  been  represented 
thirty  six  years  since  the  commencement  of  the  Revolutiona'y  war. 

The  following  persons  have  been  commissioned  Justices  of  the  peace. 
The  first  commission  is  dated  July  3,  1793.  Nahum  Fay,  Seth  Grout,  Isaac 
Davis,  Stephen  Williams,  James  Keyes,  Phineas  Davis,  and  Cyrus  Gale. 
Of  this  number,  three,  Seth  Grout,  Isaac  Davis  and  James  Keyes,  have  since 
deceased. 


H1ST0RV  OF  NORTHBOROUGH.  45 

ployed  to  teach,  at  private  houses,  in  different  parts  of  the  town, 
and  who  were  paid  by  the  voluntary  contributions  of  the  parents. 
The  first  school  house  that  was  erected  in  this  town,  stood  on  the 
meeting  house  common,  whence  it  was  afterwards  removed,  and 
now  forms  part  of  the  dwelling  house  of  Mr.  Joel  Bartlett.*  In 
1770,  the  district  was  divided  into  four  squadrons;  but  it  was  not 
till  1780,  that  the  town  passed  a  vote  to  build  school  houses  in  the 
several  squadrons,  and  granted  money  for  that  purpose.  The  town 
granted  £4000  for  building  four  school  houses,  which,  at  the  time 
it  wa9  expended,  amounted  to  only  £52  6s.  8d.  to  which  they  added 
£110  6s.  8d  amounting  to  £163  13s.  Ad. 

Since  that  period  two  new  School  districts  have  been  formed  ; 
so  that  there  are  now  six  districts  in  the  town,  in  each  of  which,  a 
school  is  kept  from  eight  to  twelve  weeks,  both  winter  and  summer. 

The  following  is  an  abstract  of  the  return  of  the  School  com- 
mittee, made  in  May  last,  to  the  General  Court. 

Amount  paid  for  public  Instruction,  $600. 

Time  of  keeping  school  in  the  year,  6  months  each  district. 

Males  under  7  year.,,  47  Females  under  7  years,  39 
From  7  to  14,  98         From  7  to  14,  75 

From  14  and  upwards,  68        From  14  and  upwards,    47 

Males,     213  Females,     161 

213 

Total,        374 

There  are,  in  this  town,  three  respectable  Libraries,  containing 
in  all  about  500  volumes,  exclusive  of  the  Juvenile  Library,  which 
contains  nearly  150  volumes,  suited  to  children  and  youth. 

The  Juvenile  Library,  commenced  in  1824,  is  supported  by  an 
annual  contribution,  and,  under  a  few  simple  regulations,  is  accessi- 
ble to  all  the  children  and  youth,  over  the  age  of  7  years,  residing 
in  the  town. 

Many  young  men,  educated  in  our  schools,  have  been  employed 
as  Instructors,  both  here  and  in  other  towns,  and  have  generally 
proved  worthy  of  the  confidence  reposed  in  them. 

Besides  several  professional  gentlemen  educated  in  our  schools, 
and  in  the  neighboring  Academies,  twelve  young  men  have  receiv- 
ed  a  public  education,  eight  of  whom  are  graduates  of  Harvard 

*  Mr.  Thomas  Goodenow  was  the  first  Instructor,  supported  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  town.  Mr.  James  Hart,  a  foreigner,  was  employed  about  this 
time,  (1770)  and  is  frequently  spoken  of  as  the  father  of  the  many  excellent 
penmen  for  which  this  town  has,  ia  former  years,  been  famed. 


46  HISTORY  OF  flORTHBOROtlGH. 

University,  at  Cambridge,  one  of  Brown  University,  and  one  each, 
of  Yale,  Dartmouth,  and  Williams'  Colleges. 

Their  names,  professions,  &c.  are  as  follow  : 

1.  Jonathan  Livermore,  son  of  the  late  Deac.  Jonathan  Liver- 
more,  was  graduated  at  Harvard  University,  in  1760  ;  settled  in 
the  ministry  at  Wilton,  N.  H.  in  1763;  was  dismissed,  but  remained 
in  that  place,  where  he  died,  July,  1809,  in  the  80th  year  of  his  age. 

2.  Ebenezer  Rice,  son  of  the  late  Simon  Rice,*  was  graduated 
at  Harvard  University,  in  1760  ;  was  a  Physician,  and  a  justice  of 
the  peace,  in  Marlborough  ;  afterwards  removed  to  Barre,  where 
he  died. 

3.  Jacob  Rice,  son  of  the  late  Jacob  Rice,  was  graduated  at 
Harvard  University,  in  1765;  settled  in  Henniker,  N.  H.  being  the 
first  minister  in  that  place;  was  dismissed,  on  account  of  ill  health* 
was  installed  at  Brownfield,  Oxford  County,  Me.  where  he  remain- 
ed till  his  death,  which  took  place  suddenly,  Feb.  1,  1824,  Lord's 
Day,  having  preached  to  his  people  in  the  morning. 

4.  Elijah  Brigham,  son  of  the  late  Col.  Levi  Brigham,  was 
graduated  at  Dartmouth  College,  in  17781;  commenced  the  study  of 
Divinity,  which  he  soon  relinquished,  and  engaged  in  mercantile 
business  with  his  brother  in  law,  Breck  Parkman,  Esq.  of  Westbo- 
tough  :  in  1795,  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  Justices  of  the  Court 
of  Common  Pleas ;  for  several  years  was  a  Senator  and  Counsellor 
of  this  Commonwealth,  a  Justice  through  the  State,  and  a  Repre- 
sentative of  this  District  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  from 
1810  to  the  time  of  his  death.  Judge  Brigham  died  suddenly,  at 
Washington,  Feb.  22,  1816,  aged  64. 

5.  John  Taylor,  son  of  the  late  John  Taylor,  was  graduated  at 
Harvard  University,  in  1786;  is  now  a  Counsellor  at  Law,  in  North- 
ampton, and  one  of  the  Representatives  of  that  town  in  the  Gen- 
eral Court. 

6.  Peter  Whitney,  son  of  Rev.  Peter  Wrhitney,  was  graduated 
at  Harvard  University,  in  1791  ;  now  the  minister  of  Quincy,  in 
this  State,  where  he  was  ordained,  Feb.  5.  1800. 

7.  Henry  Gassett,  son  of  Heary  Gassett,  was  graduated  at  Har- 
vard University,  in  1795  ;  is  now  a  merchant,  in  Boston. 

8.  Israel  Munroe,  son   of  Abraham   Munroe,  was  graduated  at 

Harvard  University,  in  1800;  was  for  some  years  a  Counsellor  at 

Law,  in  Boston ;  he  now  resides  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

*  Simon  Rice,  the  father  of  Dr.  Ebenezer  Rice,  was  a  brother  of  the  late 
Deac.  Matthias  Rice,  of  this  town.  He  lived  just  within  the  limits  of  North- 
borough,  near  the  dwelling  house  of  i'lr.  Ephraim  Barnard. 


HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROU&H.  47 

9.  Warren  Fay,  son  of  Nahum  Fay,  Esq.  was  graduated  at  Har- 
vard University,  in  1807  ;  ordained  at  Brimfield,  Nov.  3,  1808 ;  dis- 
missed, June  2G,  1811  ;  installed  at  Harvard,  Jan.  26,  1814;  dis- 
missed, at  his  own  request,  Jan.  5,  1820;  installed  as  minister  of 
the  First  Congregational  Church  and  Society  in  Charlestovvn,  Feb. 
23,  1820.  v 

10.  Luther  Rice,  son  of  Capt.  Amos  Rice,  was  graduated  at 
Williams  College,  in  1810;  ordained  at  Salem,  Feb.  6,  1812,  as  a 
Missionary;  sailed  for  Calcutta  in  company  with  Messrs.  Hall  & 
Judson,  Feb.  18, 1812.  Soon  after  his  arrival  he  changed  his  views 
on  the  subject  of  baptism  ;  was  baptised  by  immersion  ;  and,  in  the 
autumn  of  1813,  returned  to  this  country.  He  now  resides  in  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.  and  is  Treasurer  of  Columbia  College. 

11.  John  Davis,  son  of  the  Jate  Isaac  Davis,  Esq.  was  graduated 
at  Yale  College,  in  1812;  is  now  a  Counsellor  at  Law,  in  Worcester, 
and  represents  this  District  in  the  Congress  of  the  U.  S. 

12.  Isaac  Davis,  son  of  Phineas  Davis,  Esq.  was  graduated  at 
Brown  University,  in  1822;  is  now  an  Attorney  at  Law,  in  Wor- 
cester. 

There  are,  at  present,  two  physicians  in  this  place,  Docts.  Ste- 
phen Ball,  Sen'r.  and  Jun'r.  The  only  other  physician  who  made 
Northborough  his  permanent  residence,  was  the  late  Doct.  Stephen 
Ball,  father  of  Stephen  Ball,  Sen'r.  There  has  never  been  a  law- 
yer residing  in  the  place,  with  the  exception  of  John  Winslow, 
Esq.  who  remained  here  only  a  few  years.  And,  it  is  a  singular 
fact,  that  with  this  exception,  and  that  of  the  three  successive  min- 
isters, all  of  whom  were  educated  at  Harvard  University,  none  of 
the  permanent  inhabitants  of  the  town,  at  this  or  at  any  former  pe- 
riod, received  a  public  and  liberal  education. 

Ecclesiastical,  &c. — Measures  were  taken  immediately  after 
Northborough  became  a  separate  precinct,  to  support  the  public 
worship  of  God,  by  building  a  church,  and  procuring  a  minister. 

December  31,  1744,  the  parish  voted  to  build  a  meeting  house, 
and  to  raise  £50,  lawful  money,  for  that  purpose.  This  led,  as  fre- 
quently happens,  to  a  controversy  respecting  the  location  of  the 
edifice,  which,  after  several  months 'continuance,  was  finally  sub- 
mitted to  the  arbitration  of  three  respectable  men  from  the  neigh- 
boring towns,  Capt.  Daniel  Heywood,  of  Worcester,  Capt.  John 
Haynes,  of  Sudbury,  and  Capt.  Thomas  Hapgood,  of  Shrewsbury, 
who  fixed  on  the  spot,  near  the  site  of  the  present  church.  The 
land  on  which  the  house  was  erected,  was  given  to  the  town  for 


48  HISTORY'  OF  NORTHBOROUGH. 

the  use  of  its  inhabitants,  by  Capt.  James  Eager,  by  a  deed  bear- 
ing date  April  26,  1745,  "so  long  as  the  said  inhabitants  of  the 
north  precinct  shall  improve  said  land  for  the  standing  of  a  meeting 
house  for  the  public  worship  of  God." 

The  committee  reported,  April  24,  1745 ;  and,  on  April  30,  only 
6  days  after,  the  house  was  raised  ;  a  vote  having  previously  pas- 
sed, that  fc<  every  man  should  provide  for  the  raising  as  he  was 
spirited."* 

New  difficulties  now  arose  respecting  the  settlement  of  a  minis- 
ter. Several  candidates  had  been  employed  ;  and,  as  usually  hap- 
pens in  such  cases,  the  minds  of  the  people  were  divided  between 
them.  Under  these  circumstances,  the  precinct  appointed  a  fast 
for  the  12th  Sept.  1745,  and  sent  for  five  of  the  neighboring  minis- 
ters "  to  give  them  their  advice  who  they  should  apply  to  for  can- 
didates, in  order  to  a  choice." 

The  following  gentlemen  attended  on  the   occasion  ;  viz.  Rev. 
Mr.  Prentice,  Rev.  Mr.  Parkman,  Rev.  Mr.  Cushing,  and  Rev.  Mr. 
Morse,  who  recommended  that  the  parish  should  hear  a  few  sab- 
baths each,  two  candidates  from  Cambridge,  Rev.  Mr.  Rand,  and 
Mr.  Jedediah  Adams,  in  order  to  a  choice.     Mr.  John  Martyn  was 
one  of  the  candidates,  who  had  previously  been  employed  by  the 
parish  ;  and  although  they  complied  with  the  advice  of  the  neigh- 
boring ministers,  so  far  as  to  hear  the  other  candidates  two  sab- 
baths each,  vet  on  the  19th  of  December,  1745,  "Mr.  John  Mar- 
tyn  was  chosen  by  a  clear  vote"  ;  and  a  salary  was  offered  him  of 
£50  in  bills  of  the  last  emission,  (which  was  at  7s.  6d.  per  ounce,) 
or  £200  in  bills  of  the  old  form  and  tenor,  after  the  rate  of  silver 
at  30s.  per  ounce,  or  in  other  bills  of  public  credit,  equivalent  to 
the  said  sum,  and  to  be  paid  at  two   payments  annually."     Besides 
this,  a  settlement  of  $300,  old  tenor,  was  voted  by  the  parish. 

Mr.  Martyq  accepted  the  invitation,  and  was  ordained,  May  21, 
1746,  O.  S.  a  church  having  been  gathered  on  the  same  day,  con- 
sisting often  brethren,  besides  the  pastor  elect,  four  of  whom,  it  is 
worthy  of  notice,  were  foreigners.! 

*  The  dimensions  of  the  first  meeting  house  were  46  feet  by  36.  The 
whole  cost  of  finishing  the  outside  was  £443  11*.  2d.  The  building  commit- 
tee consisted  of  Capt.  James  Eager,  Wm.  Holloway,  and  Jesse  Brigham. 
The  house  was  framed  by  Daniel  Hemminway.  The  price  of  labor  at  this 
time,  was,  in  the  old  tenor  currency,  for  a  man  per  day  scoring  timber,  6*.  for 
hewing,  6s.  6d.  for  carpenter's  work,  8s.  White  pine  timber,  3  pence  per 
foot ;  for  oak,  2£  pence,  running  measure.  "  Allowed  Jotham  Bartlett  £2 
10*.  for  two  barrels  of  cider  at  the  raising  of  the  meeting  house." 

t  The  following  are  the  names  of  the  persons  who  subscribed  to  the  church 


HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROUGH.  49 

The  ordaining  council  consisted  of  the  following  pastors,  with 
their  delegates  : 

Rev.  Mr.  Parkman,  of  Westborough,  who  preached  on  the  oc- 
casion, from  Heb.  xiii.  17;  Rev.  Mr.  Prentice,  of  Lancaster,  who 
gave  the  charge;  Rev.  Mr.  Cushing,  of  Shrewsbury,  who  expressed 
the  fellowship  of  the  Churches;  Rev.  Mr.  Loring,  of  Sudbury;  Rev. 
Mr.  Hall,  of  Sutton;  Rev.  Mr.  Gardner,  of  Stow;  and  Rev.  Mr.  Bar- 
rett, of  Hopkinton. 

Although  the  ceremonies  of  the  ordination  took  place  in  the 
meeting  house,  yet  it  appears  from  the  town  records  that  it  was  in 
a  very  unfinished  state,  having  neither  pulpit,  galleries,  glass  win- 
dows, nor  even  permanent  floors.  It  was  not  till  June,  in  the  fol- 
lowing year,  that  a  vote  could  be  obtained  "  to  glaze  the  meeting 
house  and  lay  the  floors  ;"  and  not  till  the  next  autumn,  that  the 
pulpit  and  gallery  stairs  were  built.  This  was  indeed  the  day  of 
small  things  ;  and  when  we  compare  the  accommodations  of  the 
spacious  and  elegant  temple  since  erected  near  the  spot,  with  the 
loose  floors,  and  rough  seats,  and  open  windows  of  the  house  in 
which  our  fathers  worshipped,  we  shall  do  well  to  inquire  wheth- 
er we  surpass  them  as  much  in  the  punctuality  of  our  attendance, 
and  the  spirituality  of  our  worship,  as  in  the  beauty  and  accommo- 
dations of  the  place  of  our  solemnities. 

Northborough  became  an  incorporated  district,  Jan.  24,  1766, 
not  long  after  which,  viz.  April  30,  1767,  the  Rev.  John  Martyn, 
after  a  short  illness,  departed  this  life,  in  the  61st  year  of  his  age, 
and  the  21st  of  his  ministry.     His  wife  died,  Sept.  8, 1775,  aged  70, 

Mr.  Martyn  was  a  son  of  Capt.  Edward  Martyn,  of  Boston, 
where  he  spent  his  early  life,  under  the  care  of  an  excellent  moth- 
er, who  had  been  left  a  widow  in  easy  circumstances,  some  time 
previous  to  young  Mr.  Martyn's  entering  colfege.  Mr.  Martyn 
was  graduated  at  Harvard  University,  in  1724.  For  several  years 
after  he  left  college,  he  devoted  his  attention  to  secular  pursuits, 
and  was  for  some  time  an  inhabitant  of  Harvard,  in  this  county.* 

covenant  at  this  time. — John  Martyn,  the  pastor  elect ;  Ephraim  Allen  ;  Josh- 
ua Dowsing,  (sometimes  written  Townsend)  from  England  ;  John  McAllester, 
from  Ireland ;  Jonathan  Livermore,  (afterwards  Deac.  Livermore  ;)  Gershom 
Fay  ;  Matthias  Rice,  (afterwards  Deac.  Rice  ;)  Samuel  Allen  ;  Jacob  Shep- 
herd, a  foreigner  ;  John  Carruth,  also  a  foreigner ;  and  Silas  Fay. 

*  Rev.  Mr.  Martyn  was  married  to  Miss  Mary  Marret,  of  Cambridge,  by 
whom  he  had  the  following  children  :  John,  who  lived  in  this  town  ;  Mary, 
married  to  a  Minot,  of  Concord  ;  Michael,  who  was  married  to  Zilpah,  daugh- 
ter of  James  Eager,  and  lived  in  this  town  till  the  commencement  of  the  rev- 


50  HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROUGH. 

At  length,  at  the  age  of  40,  he  directed  his  attention  to  Theo- 
logical pursuits,  and  became  an  able,  faithful,  and  useful  minister. 
He  possessed,  in  a  large  measure,  the  confidence  and  affections  of 
his  flock,  was  honored  in  his  life,  and  deeply  lamented  at  his  death. 

Rev.  Peter  Whitney  was  the  only  person  employed  as  a  candi- 
date in  this  place  between  the  death  of  Mr.  Martyn  and  his  own 
ordination. 

Mr.  Martyn  died  the  last  day  of  April ;  and,  after  an  interval  of 
only  6  months  and  4  days,  that  is,  on  the  4th  of  the  following  No- 
vember, his  successor  was  inducted  into  the  office  of  a  christian 
minister.* 

The  services  at  his  ordination  were  performed  by  the  follow- 
ing persons.  Rev.  Mr.  Morse,  of  the  second  church  in  Shrewsbu- 
ry, (now  Boylston)  made  the  Introductory  Prayer ;  Rev.  Mr.  Whit- 
ney, of  Petersham,  the  father  of  the  candidate,  preached  from  Mat- 
thew, xxviii.  19,  20.;  Rev.  Mr.  Parktnan,  of  Westborough,  made 
the  consecrating  prayer,  and  gave  the  charge  ;  Rev.  Mr.  Smith,  of 
Marlborough,  expressed  the  fellowship  of  the  churches;  and  Rev. 
Mr.  Bridge,  of  Chelmsford,  made  the  concluding  prayer.  The 
other  ministers  on  the  ordaining  council,  were,  Rev.  Mr.  Stone,  of 
Southborough;  Rev.  Mr.  Goss,  of  Bolton ;  Rev.  Mr.  Morrell,  of 
Wilmington ;  Rev.  Mr.  Davis,  of  Holden ;  Rev.  Mr.  Woodward,  of 
Weston ;  Rev.  Mr.  Clark,  of  Lexington ;  Rev.  Mr.  Sumner,  of 
Shrewsbury;  and  Rev.  Mr.  Cummings,  of  Billerica. 

The  salary  of  Rev.  Mr.  Whitney  was  £66  13s.  4d.  with  a  set- 
tlement of  £160,  lawful  money. 

Rev.  Peter  Whitney  was  the  son  of  Rev.  Aaron  Whitney,  the 
first  minister  of  Petersham,  was  born  Sept.  17,  1744.  He  was  grad- 
uated at  Harvard  University,  1762,  where  he  pursued  his  Theologi- 
cal studies  preparatory  to  entering  on  the  work  of  the  ministry. 

Distinguished  for  the  urbanity  of  his  manners,  easy  and  familiar 
in  his  intercourse  with  his  people,  hospitable  to  strangers,  and  al- 
ways ready  to  give  a  hearty  welcome  to  his  numerous  friends  ; 
punctual  to  his  engagements,  observing  an  exact  method  in  the  dis- 
tribution of  his  time,  having  a  time  for  every  thing  and  doing  every 
thing  in  its  time,  without  hurry  or  confusion;  conscientious  in  the 

olutionary  war  ;  Richard,  who  settled  in  Windsor,  Conn.  ;  and  Nathaniel, 
who  removed  to  one  of  the  Southern  States.  Widow  Abigail  Fay,  is  the 
daughter  of  John,  abovenatned,  and  is  now  living  in  this  place. 

*  Mr.  Whitney  began  to  preach  in  Northborongh,  June  7,  1767,  and  gave 
his  auswer  to  settle  the  12th  of  the  following  October. 


HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROCGH.  51 

discharge  of  his  duties  as  a  christian  minister,  catholic  in  his  prin- 
ciples and  in  his  conduct,  always  taking  an  interest  in  whatever 
concerned  the  prosperity  of  the  town  and  the  interests  of  religion, 
he  was,  for  many  years,  the  happy  minister  of  a  kind  and  an  affec- 
tionate people.  At  length,  having  continued  in  the  work  of  the 
ministry  almost  half  a  century,  he  suddenly  departed  this  life,  Feb- 
ruary 29,  1816,  in  the  72d  year  of  his  age,  and  the  49th  of  his  use- 
ful ministry.* 

Mr.  Whitney  was  married  to  Miss  Julia  Lambert,  of  Reading,  in 
this  state,  by  whom  he  had  ten  children  who  lived  to  man's  estate, 
eight  of  whom  still  survive. 

Mrs.  Whitney  survived  her  husband  nearly  five  years,  and  died 
at  Quincy,  while  on  a  visit  to  her  children,  Jan.  10,  1821,  aged  79 
years.  All  who  knew  Madam  Whitney  will  bear  testimony  to  her 
worth  ;  and  admit  that  she  possessed,  in  no  common  measure,  dig- 
nity of  manners,  sprightliness  of  mind,  and  goodness  of  heart.  She 
was  indeed  a  most  pleasant  companion  and  a  most  valuable  friend. 

The  writer  of  these  sketches  was  the  only  candidate  employed 
by  their  society  after  the  death  of  his  immediate  predecessor  ;  and 
after  a  probation  of  about  four  months,  was  ordained  their  minister, 
Oct.  30,  1816. t     His  salary  is  $600  per  annum. 

*  Rev.  Mr.  Martyn  left  none  of  his  writings  in  print.  His  successor  made 
himself  extensively  known  by  his  History  of  Worcester  County  ;  a  work  high- 
ly valuable  for  the  facts  it  records,  many  of  which  would  probably  have  been 
lost,  had  they  not,  with  great  pains  and  fidelity,  been  collected  and  embodied 
in  this  work.  It  is  a  work,  the  value  of  which  will  not  be  diminished  by  the 
more  minute  histories  now  publishing  in  the  Worcester  Magazine  and  Histori- 
cal Journal. 

The  other  printed  writings  of  Mr.  Whitney,  so  far  as  they  have  come  to 
my  knowledge,  are — Two  Discourses,  delivered  July  4,  1774  ;  a  Sermon,  de- 
livered at  a  Lecture,  July  4,  1776,  on  publishing  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence ;  a  half  Century  Sermon,  preached  June  1,  1796  ;  a  Sermon  at  the  or- 
dination of  his  son,  Rev.  Peter  Whitney,  of  Quincy,  February  5,  1800  ;  a  Ser- 
mon preached  at  Shrewsbury,  February  16,  1810,  at  the  funeral  of  Mrs.  Lucy 
Sumner,  wife  of  the  Rev.  Joseph  Sumner,  D.  D. ;  and  a  notice  of  a  remarka- 
ble apple  tree,  in  the  first  volume  of  the  Memoirs  of  the  American  Academy 
of  Arts  and  Sciences. 

The  publication  of  the  History  of  Worcester  County  recommended  the 
author  to  the  notice  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  who  elected  him 
a  member  of  that  association. 

t  The  ordination  services  were  performed  by  the  following  persons  : — 
Rev.  Mr.  Whitney,  of  Quincy,  made  the  Introductory  Prayer;  Rev.  Prof. 
Ware,  of  Harvard  University,  preached  from  Jer.  xv.  19  ;  Rev.  Pres.  Kirk- 
land,  of  H.  U.  made  the  Consecrating  Prayer;  Rev.  Dr.  Saunders,  of  Med- 
field,  gave  the  charge  ;  R,ev.  John  E.  Abbott,  of  Salem,  gave  the  Right  hand 
of  Fellowship  ;  Rev.  Dr.  Puffer,  of  Berlin,  made  the  Concluding  Prayer.  Be- 
sides the  above,  the  following  Ministers  were  on  the  Council :  Rev.  Dr.  Sum- 
ner, of  Shrewsbury ;  Rev.  Dr.  Bancroft,  of  Worcester ;  Rev.  Dr.  Thayer,  of 

7 


52  HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROUGH. 

It  appears,  therefore,  that  from  the  ordination  of  Rev.  Mr.  Mar- 
tyn,  in  1746,  to  the  present  time,  a  period  of  80  years,  this  chris- 
tian society  has  been  destitute  of  a  settled  minister  only  about  14 
months;  a  fact  highly  creditable  to  the  members  of  this  society,  as 
an  evidence  of  their  regard  for  the  institutions  of  religion,  and  of 
the  union  and  harmony  which  have  long  subsisted  among  them. 
And  it  may  justly  be  considered,  that  the  town  is  indebted  to  the 
spirit  of  union  which  has  hitherto  so  generally  prevailed  among  us, 
lor  the  respectable  rank  which  it  now  maintains.  It  would  be  easy, 
however  painful,  to  predict  the  consequences  of  the  prevalence  of 
an  opposite  spirit.  Large  and  opulent  societies  can  bear  to  be  re- 
duced by  division.  Eut  in  societies  small  as  this,  and  whose  re- 
sources are  no  greater  than  ours,  union  should  be  the  watchword  of 
all  who  wish  well  to  the  cause  of  human  improvement. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  there  has  never  been  but  one  reli- 
gious society  in  this  town,  and  that  only  a  very  few  families  have, 
at  any  time,  withdrawn  themselves  from  the  Congregational  socie- 
ty. Four  or  five  families  of  the  Baptist  denomination  usually  at- 
tend public  worship  in  the  adjoining  towns.  The  first  person  of 
this  denomination  in  this  town,  was  Thomas  Billings,  who  joined 
the  Baptist  Society,  in  Leicester,  in  1766. 

The  increase  of  wealth  and  population,  and  a  regard  for  the  in- 
stitutions of  religion,  led  the  inhabitants  of  this  town,  in  the  spring 
and  summer  of  1808,  to  erect  a  new  and  more  spacious  house  for 
public  worship. 

The  new  Church  is  56  ft.  square,  with  a  projection  of  34  ft.  by 
15,  surmounted  by  a  tower,  and  cost,  including  the  bell,  $11,408  04. 
The  cost  of  the  bell  was  $510  00  ;  its  weight  about  1200  lbs. 

The  proportions  of  this  building  are  much  admired  by  persons 
ef  good  taste  ;  and  its  location  is  such,  that  it  appears  to  great  ad- 
vantage from  the  main  road.  May  it  long  stand  ;  and  be  to  this  So- 
ciety a  bond  of  union,  and  the  place  whither  they  shall  delight  to 
bring  their  stated  offerings  of  prayer  and  praise.* 

Lancaster;  Rev.  Mr.  Packard,  of  Marlborough;  Rev.  Mr.  Rockwood,  of 
Westborough ;  Rev.  Mr.  Cotton,  of  Boylston  ;  Rev.  Mr.  Frothingham,  of 
Boston  ;  Rev.  Mr.  Ripley,  of  Waltham  ;  and  Rev.  Mr.  Damon,  of  Lunenburg. 
Rev.  J.  Allen  was  bom  in  Medfield,  August  15,  1790,  and  was  graduated  at 
Harvard  University,  in  1811. 

*  The  committee  for  building  the  new  meeting  house  consisted  of  the  fol- 
lowing persons  ;  James  Keyes,  Esq.  Stephen  Williams,  Esq.  Isaac  Davis,  Esq. 
Hollon  Maynard,  Col.  William  Eager,  Seth  Grout,  Esq.  Asaph  Rice,  and 
Phineas  Davis,  Esq.  The  business  was  committed  lo  a  sub-committee,  com- 
posed of  three;  S.  Williams,  Esq.  Asaph  Rice,  and  Phineas  Davis,  Esq.  The 
house  was  built  by  Col.  Eames,  of  Buckland,  andCapt.  Brooks,  of  Princeton. 


HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROUGH.       _-  53 

In  the  summer  of  1822,  a  neat  and  handsome  Town  House  was 
built,  at  the  cost  of  about  $1000,  which  is  used  for  town  meetings, 
singing  schools,  and  various  other  purposes. 

This  town  has  been  peculiarly  unfortunate  in  the  destruction  of 
buildings  by  lire.  No  fewer  than  ten  dwelling  houses,  in  this  small 
town,  seven  of  them  large,  two  story  buildings,  have  been  burnt  to 
the  ground.  Besides  these,  two  school  houses,  one  grist  mill,  one 
saw  mill,  and  one  shoe-makers's  shop,  have  fallen  a  prey  to  the 
same  devouring  element. 

In  respect  to  expenses  incurred  for  the  support  of  paupers,  the 
town  has  for  the  most  part  been  highly  favored.  Since  the  com- 
mencement of  the  present  year,  only  two  persons  have  been  a  town 
charge,  the  whole  expense  ot  maintaining  whom,  for  a  year,  is  less 
than  one  hundred  dollars. 

Some  additional  particulars  relating  to  the  ecclesiastical  and  se- 
cular affairs  of  this  town,  it  may  be  proper  to  include  in  these  his- 
torical sketches.  Owing  to  the  destruction  of  the  church  records, 
in  the  year  1780,  when  the  dwelling  house  of  Rev.  Mr.  Whitney, 
with  most  of  its  contents,  was  destroyed  by  fire,  we  have  no  means 
of  ascertaining  the  number  of  baptisms  and  of  persons,  who  joined 
the  church,  as  well  as  many  other  particulars,  which'  it  might  be  in- 
teresting to  know,  of  what  took  place  previous  to  that  date.  We 
learn,  however,  from  Rev.  Mr.  Parkman's  account  of  Westborough, 
that,  in  1767,  the  year  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Martyn's  death,  that  the 
number  of  communicants  was  forty  four,  21  males,  and  23  females. 
The  whole  number  of  persons  admitted  into  the  church,  during  the 
ministry  of  Mr.  Whitney,  as  nearly  as  can  be  ascertained,  was  204, 
Since  the  death  of  Mr.  Whitney,  54  have  been  added  to  the  church, 
exclusive  of  such  as  have  been  received  by  recommendation  from 
other  churches.  Besides  these,  84  persons,  during  the  ministry  of 
Mr.  Whitney,  owned  the  baptismal  covenant. 

The  number  of  persons  baptised,  from  1780  to  the  time  of  Mr. 
Whitney's  decease,  was  661  ;  from  that  period  to  the  present,  132. 

From  the  gathering  of  this  church,  in  1746,  to  the  present  time, 
seven  persons  only  have  sustained  the  oflke  of  deacons,  two  of 
whom  yet  survive. 

The  two  first  deacons  of  this  church  were  Jonathan  Livermore 
and  Matthias  Rice.  Deac.  Livermore  resigned,  October  2d,  1782; 
died  April  21,  1801,  aged  100  years  and  7  months.  Deac.  Rice 
died  February  13,  1764,  aged  58  years.  Deac.  Rice  was  succeed- 
ed by  Paul  Newton,  who  resigned  May  8,  1795,  and  died  May  18. 


54  HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROTJGH. 

1797,  aged  79.  Deac.  Liverraore  was  succeeded  by  Seth  Rice, 
who  resigned  April  30,  1807,  and  died  Jan.  2,  1815,  aged  77. 
Deac.  Newton  was  succeeded  by  Isaac  Davis,  who  resigned  Nov. 
18,  1825,  and  died  April  27,  1826,  aged  77.  Deac.  Rice  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Nahum  Fay,  and  Deac.  Davis  by  Jonas  Bartlett.  Deac. 
Fay  came  into  office  June  14,  1807,  and  Deac.  Bartlett,  February 
26,  1826. 

The  amount  of  the  ages  of  the  five  deacons  who  have  deceas- 
ed, is  392  years,  the  average  of  which  exceeds  78  years. 

In  giving  the  history  of  this  town,  it  will  be  proper  that  we  sub- 
join a  brief  notice  of  those  persons  who  have  distinguished  them- 
selves as  its  benefactors.  It  has  already  been  mentioned  that  the 
land  on  which  the  meeting  house  stands,  with  the  adjoining  com- 
mon, was  the  donation  of  Capt.  James  Eager,  of  whom  an  account 
was  given  in  a  former  part  of  these  sketches. 

Mrs.  Martyn,  the  mother  of  the  Rev.  John  Martyn,  at  first, 
wholly  supplied  furniture  for  the  communion  table.  Rabbi  Judah 
Monis,  formerly  a  Hebrew  Instructer,  in  Harvard  University,  gave 
to  this  church  a  silver  cup,  also  a  large  silver  tankard,  afterwards 
converted  into  two  cups.  Another  silver  cup  was  procured,  with 
the  joint  legacies  of  Capt.  J.  Eager  and  Lieut.  William  Holloway. 
A  silver  tankard  was  given  by  Anna,  relict  of  Deac.  Matthias  Rice. 
Another  silver  cup  was  given  by  Pelatiah  Rice,  and  his  son  in  law, 
Thaddeus  Fay.  Another  by  Capt.  Gideon  Tenny  ;  and  recently, 
one  by  the  late  Deac.  Isaac  Davis.  An  elegant  Folio  Bible,  in  2 
vols,  for  the  use  of  the  pulpit,  was  the  generous  donation  of  Jo- 
seph Foster,  Esq.  of  Cambridge.* 

*  Rabbi  Judah  Monis  was  a  native  of  Italy,  born  in  1683  or  1684.  Of 
his  parentage,  and  of  the  circumstances  which  led  him  to  emigrate  to  Ameri- 
ca, we  have  no  account.  He  was  employed  as  an  instructer  in  the  Hebrew 
language,  in  Harvard  University,  about  the  year  1720,  before  his  conversion 
to  Christianity.  At  length,  he  was  led  to  receive  Jesus  Christ  as  the  true 
Messiah  :  and,  March  27,  1722,  was  publicly  baptised  at  Cambridge  ;  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Benjamin  Colman,  of  Boston,  preaching  a  discourse  in  the  College 
Hall  on  the  occasion,  from  John,  v.  46.  In  the  preface  to  this  discourse,  the 
author  says,  that  "  it  was  prepared  in  obedience  to  the  desire  of  the  very  Rev. 
Mr.  Leverett,  the  present  learned  Head  and  President  of  the  House  where  it 
was  delivered,  in  case  of  the  absence  of  the  aged  and  venerable  Dr.  Increase 
Mather,11  who,  he  adds,  "  if  his  years  had  permitted  him,  would  have  presid- 
ed and  served  on  so  great  a  solemnity.11  "  As  to  Mr.  Monis  himself,11  Dr. 
Colman  writes,  "  it  must  be  confessed  that  he  seems  a  very  valuable  prose- 
lyte. He  is  truly  read  and  learned  in  the  Jewish  Cabbala,  and  Rabbins,  a 
Master  and  Critic  in  the  Hebrew  :  He  reads,  speaks,  writes,  and  interprets  it 
with  great  readiness  and  accuracy,  and  is  truly  didaktichns,  apt  to  teach. 
His  diligence  and  industry,  together  with  his  ability,  is  manifest  unto  many 
who  have  seen  his  Grammar  and  Nomenclator,  Hebrew  and  English  ;  as  also 
his  Translation  of  the  Creed  and  Lord^  Prayer:  the  thirty  nine  articles  of  the 


HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROUGH.  55 

Appendix  I.  Containing  a  list  of  persons  who  were  heads  of 
families  in  this  place  before  or  soon  after  it  became  a  separate  Pre- 

Church  of  England,  and  the  Assembly's  shorter  Catechism  into  Hebrew  ;  and 
be  is  now  translating  the  larger  Catechism."  On  the  same  occasion,  Mr. 
Monis  also  delivered  a  discourse  from  Ps.  cxvi.  10,  entitled  "  The  Truth," 
which  was  printed,  with  a  Preface  written  by  Dr.  Increase  Mather.  This 
was  followed  soon  afterwards  by  two  other  discourses  from  the  same  text,  the 
first  entitled  "The  Whole  Truth,"  the  latter,  "Nothing  but  the  Truth." 
These  three  discourses,  with  that  of  Dr.  Colman,  were  printed  in  Boston,  for 
Daniel  Henchman,  and  "sold  at  his  shop,  over  against  the  old  Erick  Church, 
in  Cornhill,  1722." 

Mr.  Monis  continued  in  his  office  as  an  Instructer  in  Hebrew  forty  years, 
till  the  infirmities  of  age  rendered  him  incapable  of  performing  its  duties. 
After  the  death  of  his  wife,  in  1761,  he  left  Cambridge  and  removed  to  North- 
borough  to  reside  in  the  family  of  Rev.  Mr.  Martyn,  who  had  married  a  sister 
of  his  wife.  Here  he  remained  till  the  time  of  his  death,  which  happened, 
April  25,  1764,  at  the  age  of  81  years.  As  he  had  no  children,  he  bequeath- 
ed the  principal  part  of  his  estate,  which  was  considerable,  to  the  family  in 
which  he  resided  at  his  death.  The  sum  of  £46  13*.  Ad.  was  distributed 
among  seven  of  the  neighboring  ministers ;  and  about  £126  was  left  as  a  fund, 
under  the  direction  of  a  Board  of  Trustees,  the  interest  of  which  was  to  be 
devoted  to  the  relief  of  indigent  widows  of  deceased  clergymen.  The  Board 
of  Trustees  consists  of  the  ministers  of  the  following  churches :  The  church 
in  Northborouejh  ;  the  first  church  in  Salem ;  first  in  Cambridge ;  the  new 
north  in  Boston  ;  and  the  first  church  in  Hingham.  The  fund  now  amounts 
to  $400,  the  interest  of  which  is  distributed  annually  among  four  widows  of 
deceased  clergymen. 

The  following  is  the  inscription  on  Mr.  Monis''  Grave  Stone. 

"here  lie  buried  the  remains  oe 

RABBI  JUDAH  MONIS, 

Late    Hebrew   Instructer, 

At  Harvard  College,  in  Cambridge  ; 

In  which   office  he  continued   40  years. 

He  was  by  birth  and  religion  a  Jew, 

But  embraced  the  Christian  faith, 

And  was  publicly  baptised 

At   Cambridge,  A.  D.  1722, 

And  departed  this  life 

April  25th,  1764, 

Aged  eighty  one  years,  two  months, 

and  twenty  one  days. 

A  native  branch  of  Jacob  see, 

Which  once  from  off  its  olive  broke  ; 
Regrafted  from  the  living  tree,     Rom.  xi.  17.24. 

Of  the  reviving  sap  partook. 

From  teeming  Zion's  fertile  womb,    Isai.  lxvi.  3. 

As  dewy  drops  in  early  morn,      Ps.  ex.  3. 
Or  rising  bodies  from   the  tomb,     John,  v.  28.  29. 

At  once  be  Israel's  nation  born.  Isai.  lxvi.  8." 

Lieut.  Wm,  Holloway,  of  whose  family  an  account  has  been  given,  was 
for  many  years,  one  of  the  leading  characters  in  this  town.  He  died  Jan.  6, 
1760,  aged  71. 

Deac.  Matthias  Rice  was  a  grandson  of  Edward  Rice,  one  of  the  origin- 


5G 


HISTORY  OF  NORTHE0R0UGH. 


cinct,  in  1744.     The  second  column  contains  the  names  of  the  per- 
sons who  now  live  on  or  near  the  same  house  lots. 

Those  to  whose  names  this  mark  (t)  is  prefixed,  have  descend- 
ants of  the  same  name  now  living  in  Northborough. 


John  Brigham. 
Samuel  Goodenow, 
Samuel  Goodenow,  Jun. 

David  and  Jonathan,  sons  of  i 
Samuel  Goodenow,  Jim.    J 
Nathaniel  Oakes, 
Simeon  Howard,  Sen. 
t  Gershom  Fay,  Sen. 
Thomas  Ward, 
Oliver?  Ward,  (1) 
Dtac.  Isaac  Tomblin, 
Hezekiah  Tomblin, 
Ephraim  Beeman, 
Joseph  Wheeler, 
Simon  Rice, 
t  Daniel  Bartlett,  (2) 


Mr.  Holbrooks  Saw  Mill, 
Gill  Bartlett. 

Deac.  Jonas  Eaillett, 

Gill  Bartlett. 

Jacob  Pcirce. 

Near  the  Hearse  House. 

Near  Asa  Fay's  House. 

Asaph  Rice. 

Jonathan  Bartlett. 

Widow  of  the  late  Deac.  Davis. 

On  Tomblin  Hill. 

Samuel  DaJrymple. 

On  Ball's  Hill. 

Near  Ephraim  Barnard's. 

Deac.  Jonas  Bartlett. 


None  of  the  above,  it  is  believed  were  heads  of  families  in  this  town  so 
late  as  1744. 

The  following  are  the  names  of  the  fifteen  persons  who  paid 

the  highest  taxes  in  1749,  taken  from  the  Town  Record,  Vol.  I.  p.  27. 


Lieut.  Wm.  Holloway, 
James  Eager,  Jun. 
Capt.  James  Eager, 
Deac.  Matthias  Rice, 
Peletiah  Rice, 
Samuel  Gamwell, 
t  Jacob  Rice.  (3) 
t  Jotham  Bartlett, 
Timothy  Fay, 
Josiah  Bowker, 
i"  Jesse  Brigham,  (4) 
tBezaleel  Fager,  (5) 


Stephen  Williams,  Esq. 

John  Fisk. 

Do. 

Windsor  Stratton. 

Ephraim  Barnard. 

Capt.  Prentice  Keyes. 

Asaph  Rice, 

Gill  Bartlett. 

Capt.  Henry  Hastings. 

Nathan  Green. 

Henry  Brigham. 

Col.  Wm.  Eager; 


al  proprietors  of  Marlborough.  He  lived  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  Jonah 
Brigham.     He  died  without  children,  Feb.  3,  1764,  aged  58. 

Peletiah  Rice  was  a  son  o!  Peter  Puce,  of  Marlborough,  and  lived  on  the 
farm  now  in  the  possession  of  Ephraim  Barnard.  He  left  no  sons ;  his  two 
daughters,  Thankful  and  Sarah,  were  married  respectively,  to  Thaddeus  and 
Adam  Fay,  sons  of  Gershom  Fay.     He  died  April  7,  1775,  aged  81. 

Deac.  Isaac  Davis  was  born  in  Rutland,  in  this  county.  His  father,  Si- 
mon Davis,  was  a  son  of  Simon  Davis,  who  removed  from  Concord  to  Rutland. 
Rev.  Joseph  Davis,  the  first  minister  of  Holden,  was  another  son  of  Simon  Da- 
vis, Sen.  I>ac.  Davis  removed  to  Northborough  during  the  Revolutionary 
war,  and  has  been,  for  a  long  succession  of  years,  one  of  our  most  distinguish- 
ed citizens.  His  first  wife,  the  mother  of  his  children,  was  a  daughter  of  the 
late  Dr.  Samuel  Brigham,  of  Marlborough,  who  was  married  to  a  daughter  of 
Dr.  Benjamin  Gott,  whose  wife  was  Sarah,  a  daughter  of  Rev.  Robert  Breck, 
the  second  minister  of  Marlborough.  Deac.  Davis  died  April  27,  1826,  aged 
77.  During  his  last  sickness,  he  directed  his  family  to  procure  at  his  expense 
new  linen  for  the  Communion  Table,  a  direction  with  which  they  cheerfully 
complied. 


HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROUGH, 


57 


Silas  Fay, 
Thomas  Billings, 
John  Oakes, 


The  following'  twelve  names  w 

tJames  Call, 
Cornet  Simeon  Howard, 
t  Nathan  Ball, 
t  Josiah  Rice, 
t  Gershom  Fay, 
t  Samuel  Allen, 
John  McAllester, 
Deac.  Jonas  Livermone, 
Thomas  Gooclenow, 
Seth  Hudson, 
George  Oakes, 
t  Seth  Rice,  Sen: 

To  the  above  list  the  following 

John  Martyn,  Jun. 
Zephaniah  Brings, 
tDeac.  Paul  Newton, 
t  Col.  Levi  Brigham,  (6) 
t  Samuel  Wood,  Sen.  (7) 
tThomas  Warren,  and  his  )  .0. 

son  tEliphalet  Warren,  $  '-0-' 
Jonathan  Hayward,  and  his 

son  Gideon  Hayward, 
tJonathan  Bruce, 
Joshua  Townsend, 
t  John  Carruth, 
t  William  Babcock, 
Josiah  Goddard, 
Solomon  Goddard, 
Silas  Rice, 

Samuel  Gamwell,  Jun. 
"William  Carruth, 
George  Smith, 
Joshua  Child, 
Warren, 
Capt.  Timothy  Brigham, 

now  living, 


Capt.  Henry  Hastings. 
Col.  John  Crawford. 
Joel  Gassett. 

ere  added,  in  1752. 

Edward  B.  Ball. 
Nahum  Fay,  Esq. 
Nathan  Ball. 
William  Maynard. 
Benjamin  Rice. 
Samuel  Allen. 
Hollou  Maynard. 
David  Dinsmore. 
Stephen  Howe. 
Near  Ephraim  Barnard's. 
Luther  Hawse. 
Calviu  Hastings. 

names  may  be  subjoined. 

Benjamin  Munroe. 
Capt.  Joseph  Davis. 
Martyn  Newton. 
Winslow  Brigham. 
Sarcnul  Sever. 

Abel  Warren. 

Lowell  Holbrook. 

Samuel  Dalrymple. 

John  F.  Fay. 

Joseph  Carruth. 
David  Mahan. 
Silas  Bailey. 
Jonas  Babcock. 
Benjamin  Flagg. 
Reuben  Babcock. 
Daniel  Smith. 
Do. 

On  the  South  Road. 
Do. 

Oliver  Eager. 


NOTES. 
Brief  notices  of  several  persons  whose  names  are  found  in  the  foregoing  list. 

1.  Oliver  ?  Ward.  I  understand  that  a  farmer  of  the  name  of  Ward, 
was  the  first  settler  on  the  farm  of  Jonathan  Bartlett,  and  I  conclude  that  his 
name  was  Oliver  from  the  circumstances  that,  in  1710,  forty  three  acres  of 
land  were  laid  out  to  Thomas  and  Oliver  Ward  "  on  Woody  Hill,  near  the 
upper  end  of  Cold  Harbor,  north  side  of  the  brook,  next  John  Brigham's 
meadow." 

2.  Daniel  Bartlett,  was  a  son  of  Henry  Bartlett,  who  emigrated  from 
Wales  and  settled  in  Marlborough,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  or 
beginning  of  the  eighteenth  Century.  He  was  the  common  ancestor  of  all 
of  that  name  in  this  town.  His  sons  were  Jotham,  settled  in  this  town, 
grandfather  of  Gill  Bajtlett ;  Daniel,  settled  in  Rutland  ;  Jonathan,  father  of 


58  HISTORY  OF  NORTHEOROUGH. 

Jotham  and  Jonathan,  in  this  town  ;  John,  in  Princeton  ;  Isaac,  in  H  olden  ; 
and  Jonas,  father  of  Deac.  Jonas  B.  in  this  town.  A  brother  of  Daniel  set- 
tled in  Western  or  Brookfield,  probably  the  Benjamin  Bartlett,  whose  daugh- 
ter Mary,  born  1701,  was  the  first  child  born  in  Brookfield,  whose  birth  was 
recorded.     (1  Hist.  Col.  1,  267.) 

3.  Jacob  Rice,  son  of  Jacob  Rice  of  Marlborough,  first  lived  a  little 
south  of  the  dwelling  house  of  Doct.  Stephen  Ball,  afterwards  removed  to  the 
house  now  owned  by  his  grandson,  Asaph  Rice.  He  was  the  father  of  John 
Rice,  of  Shrewsbury  ;  Jacob,  minister  of  Brownfield,  .Maine  ;  and  Amos,  now 
living  in  this  town.  The  brothers  of  Jacob  were  Amos  and  Obediah,  of  Brook- 
field,and  Gershom,  of  Marlborough.  Jacob  Rice  died,  July  29, 1788,  aged  81. 

4.  Capt.  Jesse  Brigham,  son  of  Jonathan  Brigham  of  Marlborough,  was 
the  father  of  Artemas,  and  Capt.  Tim.  Brigham,  the  latter  of  whom  is  now 
living  in  this  town.     Jesse  Brigham  died,  Dec.  8,  1796,  aged  87. 

5.  Capt.  Bezaleel  Eager,  came  from  Marlborough  to  the  place  where  his 
grandson,  Col.  Win.  Eager  now  lives.  Two  brothers,  Abraham  and  Capt. 
Benjamin  Eager,  came  about  the  same  time  to  Shrewsbury,  and  were  among 
the  first  settlers  of  that  town.  Their  father  or  grandfather  was  from  Concord; 
Bezaleel  Eager,  died  Oct.  31,  1787,  aged  74. 

6.  Col.  Levi  Brigham,  son  of  David  Brigham  of  Westborough,  was  the 
father  of  the  late  Judge  Brigham,  and  of  Winslow  Brigham  now  living  in  this 
town.  Col.  Brigham  was  chosen  July  10,  1775,  to  represent  this  town  in  the 
Assembly  to  be  convened  at  the  meeting  house  in  Watertown,  the  19th  of  that 
month.     He  died  Feb.  1,  1787,  aged  71. 

7.  Samuel  Wood  came  from  Sudbury,  and  set  up  the  first  fulling  mill  in  this 
town.  He  was  the  father  of  the  late  Abraham  and  Capt.  Samuel  Wood,  who 
lived  together  on  the  same  farm  now  in  the  possession  of  Samuel  Sever. 

8.  Thomas  Warren,  from  Watertown,  was  the  father  of  Eliphalet,  who 
left  many  descendents  in  this  town  and  in  other  places. 

Appendix  II.  Referring  to  page  134.  The  Grants  for  house 
lots  were  made  26th  November.  1660,  and  were  in  the  following- 
proportions. 


Jlcres. 

Acres. 

Edmund  Rice 

50 

Richard  Ward 

18 

William  Wrard 

50 

John  Woods 

30 

John  Ruddock 

50 

John  Maynard 

23 

Thomas  Goodenow 

32 

Peter  King 

22 

Joseph  Rice 

32 

Benjamin  Rice 

24 

Samuel  Rice 

21 

A  Minister 

30 

Christopher  Bannister 

16 

Peter  Bent 

30 

Thomas  King 

39 

John  Bellows 

20 

William  Kerley 

30 

Abraham  How 

25 

Solomon  Johnson 

30 

Thomas  Goodenow  Jun.     20 

Richard  Newton 

30 

John  Rutter 

30 

John  Howe,  Sen. 

30 

John  Barrett 

18 

John  Howe  Jun. 

16 

John  Rediat 

22 

Henry  Kerley 

19£ 

A  Smith 

30 

Richard  Barnes 

16 

Joseph  Holmes 

18 

Thomas  Rice 

35 

Samuel  How 

16 

Andrew  Belcher 

20 

Henry  Axtell 

15 

Obadiah  Ward 

21 

John  Newton 

16 

Edward  Rice 

35 

38  house  lots, 

992£  acres 

HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROUGH.  59 

NOTES. 

Brief  notices  of  several  persons  whose  names  are   found  in  the  foregoing  list. 

Edmund  Rice  was  probably  the  father  of  Edmund  Rice,  one  of  the  first 
settlers  of  Westborough,  whose  children  Silas  and  Timothy  were  taken  by  the 
Indians  and  carried  iuto  captivity.  If  so,  he  was  the  great  grandfather  of  the 
late  Deac.  Seth  Rice  of  this  town.  He  was  one  of  the  selectmen  of  Marlbo- 
rough, in  1661. 

Wm.  Ward  was  one  of  the  first  deacons  of  the  Church  at  Marlborough, 
and  had  a  house  lot  assigned  him  on  the  south  side  of  the  road  opposite  the 
Rev.  Mr.  BrimsmeadV  He  was  one  of  the  selectmen  in  1661.  He  was  the 
grandfather  of  the  late  Col.  William  Ward,  of  Southborough.  He  was  proba- 
bly also  an  ancestor  of  the  late  Maj.  Gen.  Artemas  Ward,  of  Shrewsbury. 
There  were,  however,  three  persons  of  the  name  of  Ward,  viz.  William,  Obe- 
diah,  and  Richard,  to  whom  house  lots  in  Marlborough  were  granted  at  this 
time,  (1662.)  From  the  following  inscription  on  a  grave  stone  in  the  old  bu- 
rying ground  in  Marlborough,  it  would  appear  that  the  person  to  whom  it 
belongs,  was  born  before  either  of  the  New  Englaud  colonies  was  planted. 
"  Here  lyes  the  body  of  Elizabeth  Ward,  the  servant  of  the  Lord,  deceased  in 
37  year  of  her  age,  December  the  9  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1700. 

John  Ruddock,  was  one  of  the  selectmen  of  Marlborough,  also  a  recorder 
or  clerk  in  1661,  and  a  deacon  of  the  church  in  1689. 

Of  Thomas  Gooclenow,  Richard  Newton  and  John  How,  some  account 
has  already  been  given.  Thomas  Goodenow  and  John  How,  were  selectmen 
in  1661,  as  also  were  Thomas  King  and  Solomon  Johnson,  the  latter  of  whom 
was  afterwards  a  deacon  of  the  church. 

The  name  of  Andrew  Belcher,  occurs  in  Dr.  Holmes'  History  of  Cam- 
bridge, (1.  Hist.  Col.  Vol.  VII.  23,  34,)  who  quotes  from  the  Town  Records 
the  following:  "  The  townsmen  granted  liberty  to  Andrew  Belcher,  to  sell 
beare  and  bread,  for  entertainment  of  strangers,  and  the  good  of  the  town." 
This  was  in  1652.  Whether  this  is  the  same  person  whose  name  is  found 
among  the  proprietors  of  Marlborough  eight  years  afterwards,  I  am  unable  to 
say.  A  Capt.  Andrew  Belcher  is  said  to  have  given  to  the  first  parish  in 
Cambridge,  the  bell  now  in  use,  in  the  year  1700.  I  am  informed  too  that 
the  name  of  Andrew  Belcher,  Esq.  frequently  occurs  in  the  records  of  the 
Gen.  Court ;  that  he  was  for  some  years  an  assistant,  a  member  of  the  King's 
Council,  and  often  a  member  of  the  Legislature;  and  that,  in  1689, he  was 
a  messenger  to  treat  with  the  Indians  at  Albany,  &c.  It  is  not  improbable 
that  he  lived  for  a  time  at  Marlborough,  and  that  he  afterwards  returned  to 
Cambridge,  and  sustained  the  several  offices  abovementioned. 

Edward  Rice  was  a  deacon  of  the  church  in  1689  ;  and  was,  as  has  been 
mentioned,  the  grandfather  of  the  late  Deac.  Matthias  Rice,  of  Simon  Rice, 
and  of  Jacob  Rice,  of  this  town.  It  is  not  improbable,  taking  into  view  the 
connexion  between  Sudbury  and  Concord,  that  the  Richard  R.ice,  who  is 
mentioned  as  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Concord,  in  1635,  (1.  Hist.  Col.  Vol. 
1,  240.)  was  the  common  ancestor  of  all  of  that  name  in  this  part  of  the  coun- 
try, and  the  person,  who,  as  tradition  says,  left  eight  sons,  who  all  lived  to  a 
very   great   age.      The    Rice   family  has   been    remarkable   for  longevity-. 

8 


60  HISTORY  OF  HORTHBOROUGH. 

Two  of  this  name,  Cyprian  and  Elisha  Rice,  who  went  from  Marlborough,  di- 
ed at  Brookfield  in  1788,  the  one  in  the  98th,  and  the  other  in  the  99th  year  of 
his  age.    Hist.  Col.  1.  273. 

Of  the  other  persons  mentioned  in  the  foregoing  list,  I  have  no  account  to 
give.  Maj.  Peter  Bulkley  was  mentioned,  page  138,  as  one  of  the  persons 
who  assisted  in  procuring  the  Indian  deed  of  Marlborough.  ,  This  was  un- 
doubtedly a  son  of  Rev.  Peter  Bulkley,  who  was  the  first  minister  and  one  of 
the  first  settlers  of  Concord,  then  called  Mnsketaquid.  Rev.  Mr.  Bulkley, 
had  a  number  of  children  who  were  much  distinguished  in  their  day.  One  of 
his  sons,  Gershom,  was  married  to  a  daughter  of  President  Chauncey,  and  was 
the  father  of  John  Bulkley,  minister  of  Colchester,  Conn. 

Maj.  Peter  Bulkley,  was  in  1678-9,  an  agent  for  the  Corporation  of  the 
Massachusetts  Bay,respecting  the  Narrhagansett  country,  (1  Hist.  Col.  V.221) 
and  in  the  first  year  of  James  II.  was  appointed  by  the  King*s  commission,  one 
of  the  Council,  of  which  Joseph  Dudley,  Esq.  was  President.  1.  Hist.  V. 
245. 

It  appears  from  the  State  Records,  that  a  grant  of  1000  acres  of  land  in 
the  Nipmug  or  Kittituck  country,  was  made  to  Maj.  Bulkley,  by  the  General 
Court,  for  some  service  he  had  performed  for  the  public. 

Appendix  III. 

Ministers  of  Marlborough. — Rev.  William  Brimsmead,  the  first 
minister  of  Marlborough,  was  a  native  of  Dorchester,  a  member  of 
the  class  that  graduated  at  Harvard  College,  in  1648,  but  who  left 
with  several  others  in  the  preceding  year,  without  a  degree,  incon- 
sequence of  dissatisfaction  with  the  regulation  then  introduced  of 
requiring  a  residence  of  four  years  instead  of  three.  He  was  em- 
ployed as  a  preacher,  at  Marlborough,  as  early  as  1660  ;  was  after- 
wards, in  1665,  after  several  months  probation,  invited  to  settle  in 
Plymouth,  with  an  offer  of  £70  salary  and  firewood,  which  he  de- 
clined, and  was  ordained  at  Marlborough,  October  3d,  1666. 

John  Cotton,  Esq.  of  Plymouth,  in  his  history  of  that  town. 
(1760)  speaks  of  him  as  "  a  well  acomplished  servant  of   Christ/' 

He  preached  the  Election  Sermon,  1681,  on  Jer.  6.  8.  which 
was  printed.  His  salary  in  Marlborough  was  from  40  to  £45  per 
annum. 

It  appears  from  the  following  record  that  he  was  unable  to  sup- 
ply the  pulpit  during  the  latter  part  of  his  life.  "May  6,  1700. 
Voted,  to  send  to  Cambridge  for  a  candidate  for  the  ministry." 

"July  12.  Voted  unanimously,  by  church  and  town,  to  invite 
Mr.  Swift  to  help  with  our  present  pastor,  if  God  shall  raise  him  up.'* 

At  the  same  time  a  committee  was  chosen  "  to  procure  a  place 
to  remove  their  minister  to,  and  to  provide  him  a  nurse."  (Mr. 
Brimsmead  had  no  family  of  his  own  to  provide  for  him,  having 
never  been  married.) 


HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROUGH.  61 

"December  16,  1700,  a  committee  was  chosen  to  treat  our  Rev. 
pastor,  with  reference  to  the  arrears  yet  in  his  account  that  con- 
cern the  town,  and  fo  bring  an  account  of  all  that  is  behind,  from 
the  beginning  of  the  world  to  the  end  of  November,  1699." 

Mr.  Swift  having  negatived  the  call,  Mr.  Joseph  Morse  was  in- 
vited to  settle  as  colleague  with  Mr.  Brimsmead.  Rev.  Mr.  Brims- 
mead  died  on  Commencement  morning,  July  3d,  1701,  and  was  bu- 
ried in  "  the  old  grave  yard,'1*  where  a  large  unlettered  stone  was 
erected  to  his  memory,  which  still  remains,  and  is  almost  the  only 
memorial  that  remains  of  "  this  venerable  servant  of  Jesus  Christ."!  • 
Soon  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Brimsmead,  Mr.  John  Emerson,  after- 
wards settled  in  Portsmouth,  N".  H.|  was  invited  to  be  the  minister 
of  Marlborough,  but  declined  the  invitation. 

At  length,  after  a  long  controversy  respecting  Mr.  Emerson, 
which  was  carried  on  with  a  good  deal  of  asperity,  June  1st,  1704, 
Mr.  Robert  Breck,  son  of  Capt.  John  Breck,  of  Dorchester,  gradu- 
ated at  Harvard  College,  in  1700,  received  an  invitation  to  take 
the  pastoral  charge  of  the  society,  which  he  accepted,  and  was  or- 
dained, October  24th,  1704. 

Rev.  Mr.  Breck  remained  pastor  of  the  church  at  Marlborough 

*  The  following  inscription  is  placed  over  the  remains  of  the  first  person 
who  was  buried  in  the  old  burying  ground  in  Marlborough. 

**  Capt.  Edward  Hutchinson  aged  67  years,  was  shot  by  treacherous  In- 
dians, August  2d,  1675,  died,  August  19th,  1675." 

Capt.  Edward  Hutchinson  was  mortally  wounded  by  the  Indians,  Au- 
gust 2d,  at  a  place  called  Menimimisset,  about  four  or  five  miles  from  Quabo- 
ag  (Brookfield)  to  which  place  he  had  been  sent  with  twenty  horsemen  by 
the  Governor  and  Council,  for  the  purpose  of  conciliating  the  Nipmucks,  to 
many  of  whom  he  was  personally  known.  It  appears  that  they  conducted 
themselves  towards  him  with  the  basest  treachery.  The  Sachems  had  sig- 
nified their  readiness  to  treat  with  the  English,  but  it  must  be  with  Capt. 
Hutchinson  himself.  Having  been  conducted  by  a  treacherous  guide  to  the 
place  where  two  or  three  hundred  of  the  Indians  lay  in  ambush,  they  sud- 
denly issued  from  a  swamp,  fell  upon  Capt.  Hutchinson,  and  his  unsuspecting 
associates,  shot  down  eight  of  the  company,  and  mortally  wounded  three  more, 
among  whom  was  Capt.  H.  himself.  Capt.  Hutchinson  was  a  son  of  the  cel- 
ebrated Mrs.  Ann  Hutchinson,  who  occupies  so  conspicuous  a  place  in  the 
early  history  of  New  England.  He  was  also  the  great  grandfather  of  Thomas 
Hutchinson,  Governor  of  the  Massachusetts  colony  and  the  historian  of  Mas- 
sachusetts.    Savage's  Winthrop,  1.  249. 

tR,ev.  Mr.  Brimsmead's  house  stood  in  a  lot  of  land  on  the  west  side  of 
Ockoocangansett  hill,  adjoining  to  said  hill.  Tradition  says,  that  he  uniform- 
ly refused  baptism  to  children  who  were  born  on  the  Sabbath. 

^Rev.  John  Emerson  was  first  (1703)  ordained  as  pastor  of  the  church  at 
Newcastle,  New  Hampshire,  dismissed  in  1712,  and  installed  pastor  of  the 
South  Parish  in  Portsmouth,  March  23d,  1715,  died  June  21st,  1732,  aged  62. 
Mr.  Emerson  was  a  native  of  Ipswich  and  was  graduated  at  Harvard  Univer- 
sity, in  1689.     1.  Hist.  Col.  X.  53. 


62  HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROUGH. 

twenty  seven  years,  and  died,  January  6,  1731,  in  the  midst  of  his 
days  and  usefulness,  at  the  age  of  forty  nine  years,  universally  la- 
mented. 

A  handsome  monument  was  erected  to  his  memory,  near  that 
of  his  predecessor,  containing  the  following  inscription  in  Latin,  to 
which  we  subjoin,  at  the  request  of  many,  a  translation  into  English. 

INSCRIPTION. 

Reliquiae  terrestres  theologi  vere  venerandi  Roberti  Breck  sub 
hoc  tumulo  conferuntur.  Pars  ccelestis  ad  coelum  myriadum  ange- 
lorum  et  ad  spiritus  jnstorum  qui  perfecti  sunt  abiit. 

Ingenii  penetrantis,  quoad  vires  naturales,  vir  fuit  amplissimae 
mentis  et  judi^ii  solidi,  una  cum  animi  fortitudine  singulari.  Quo- 
ad partes  acquisitas  spectat,  in  Unguis  quae  doc  tee  praesertim  (audi- 
unt  ?)  admodum  peritus  ;  literarum  politarum  mensura  parum  com- 
muni  instructus  ;  et,  quod  aliis  fuit  difficile,  ille,  virtute  ingenii  pro- 
prii  et  studiis  coarctis,  felicitersubegit.  In  omnibus  Theologiae  par- 
tibus  versatissimus,  et  vere  orthodoxus,  Scriba.  ad  regnum  ccelo- 
rum  usquequaque  institutus.  Officio  pastorali  in  ecclesia  Marlbur- 
iensi,  ubi  Spiritus  Sanctus  ilium  constituit  episcopum,  per  XXVII 
annos,  fideliter,  sedulo,  pacifice,  multaque   cum   laude,  functus   est. 

Doctrinae  Revelatae,  una  cum  cultu  etregimine  in  Ecclesiis  Nov- 
Anglicanis  instituto,  assertor  habilis  et  strenuus.  Ad  consilia  danda 
in  rebus  arduis,  turn  publicis  turn  privatis,  integritate  conspectus  et 
prudentia  instructissimus.  Sincere  dilexit  amicos,  patriam,  et  uni- 
versam  Christi  ecclesiam. 

Denique  pietatis,  omnis  virtutis  socialis,  et  quoad  res  terrenas 
moderaminis,  exemplar. 

In  doloribus  asperis  aegritudinis  ultimae  patientia  ejus  opus  per- 
fectum  habuit ;  et,  si  non  ovans,  expectans  tamen  et  placide  disces- 
sit.  Natus  Decem.is  7  mo  1682. 

Denatus  Januar.  6  to  1731. 
Prophetas  ipsi  non  in  seculum  vivunt. 

TRANSLATION  OF  THE  ABOVE. 

Beneath  this  stone  are  deposited  the  mortal  remains  of  the  tru- 
ly reverend  Robert  Breck.  His  immortal  part  hath  ascended  to 
heaven  to  join  the  innumerable  company  of  angels  and  the  spirits 
of  the  just  made  perfect. 

He  was  by  nature  a  man  of  acute  intellect,  capacious  mind  and 
solid  judgment,  together  with  singular  mental  resolution.  As  to  his 
attainments,  he  was  eminently  skilled  in  the  learned  languages,  fa- 
miliar be}rond  the  common  measure  with  polite  literature  ;  and^ 


HISTORY  OF  NORTHEOROUGH.  63 

what  to  others  was  difficult,  he  by  the  powers  of  his  mind,  and  close 
application  to  study,  accomplished  with  ease. 

Thoroughly  versed  in  every  department  of  theology,  and  truly 
orthodox  in  sentiment,  he  was  a  scribe  in  every  respect  instructed 
unto  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

The  duties  of  the  pastoral  office  in  the  church  at  Marlborough, 
over  which  the  Holy  Ghost  had  made  him  overseer,  he  discharged 
faithfully  and  assiduously,  in  peace  and  with  great  reputation,  for 
twenty  seven  years. 

He  was  a  skilful  and  able  asserter  of  the  doctrines  of  revelation 
and  of  the  worship  and  discipline  of  the  New  England  Churches. 

He  was  a  counsellor  in  cases  of  difficulty,  both  public  and  pri- 
vate, of  distinguished  uprightness  and  consummate  prudence. 

He  was  a  sincere  lover  of  his  friends,  his  country,  and  the  whole 
Church  of  Christ. 

In  a  word,  he  was  a  model  of  piety,  of  every  social  virtue,  and 
of  moderation  in  regard  to  earthly  things. 

In  the  severe  pains  of  his  last  sickness,  his  patience  had  its  per- 
fect work;  and  his  departure,  if  not  in  triumph,  was  full  of  hope 
and  peace.  Born  Dec.  7th,  1682— Died  Jan.  6th,  1731. 

"  Even  the  prophets  do  not  live  forever." 

Rev.  Robert  Breck  was  regarded  as  one  of  the  eminent  minis- 
ters of  his  day.  He  preached  the  Election  Sermon  in  1728,  from 
Deut.  v.  29,  which  was  printed.  Another  of  his  printed  sermons, 
which  is  still  in  existence,  was  preached  in  Shrewsbury,  on  the  15th 
of  June,  1720,  and  was  the  first  sermon  preached  in  that  town.* 
His  only  other  publications,  so  far  as  they  have  come  to  our  knowl- 
edge, were  two  excellent  sermons,  addressed  particularly  to  young 
persons,  and  which  were  preached  to  his  people  in  1  728,  on  occa- 
sion of  a  large  accession  to  his  church  of  about  fifty  persons.  The 
former  is  on  the  danger  of  religious  declension,  from  Luke  ix.  61, 
62  :  the  latter  was  preparatory  to  the  observance  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  from  Leviticus,  x.  3. 

Three  funeral  discourses  preached  at  Marlborough,  on  occasion 
of  his  death,  one  by  Rev.  John  Swift  of  Framingham,  another  by 
Rev.  John  Prentice,  of  Lancaster,  and  the  third  by  Rev.  Israel  Lor- 
ing  of  Sudbury,  were  published,  and  are  now  extant. 

It  appears,  from  a  note  to  Mr.  Prentice's  discourse,  that  during 

*  See  the  history  of  Shrewsbury,  in  the  May  Number  of  this  Journal,  p. 
16,  by  Andrew  H.  Ward,  Esq. 

I  am  informed  by  Rev.  Wm.  B.  Sprague,  of  West  Springfield,  that  he  has 
in  his  possession  a  copy  of  this  discourse. 


04  HISTORY  OF  iNOKTHBOROUUll. 

the  sickness  of  Mr.  Breck,  October  15,  1730,  a  day  of  fasting 
and  prayer  was  kept  in  Marlborough  for  his  recovery  ;  "  several  of 
the  neighboring  ministers  being  present  and  assisting  on  that  sol- 
emn occasion." 

A  respectful  and  able  notice  of  Rev.  Robert  Breck  was  given 
in  the  Weekly  Journal,  No.  CC.  for  Jan.  18,  1731,  which  is  sub- 
joined to  the  discourse  of  Mr,  Prentice  ;  and  another  well  written 
memoir  was  published  in  the  Boston  Weekly  News  Letter,  No. 
1408,  for  Jan.  21,  1731,  which  forms  an  appendix  to  Rev.  Mr.  Lor- 
ing's  discourse. 

"  His  temper  was  grave  and  thoughtful,  and  yet  cheerful  at 
times,  especially  with  his  friends  and  acquaintance  ;  and  his  conver- 
sation entertaining  and  agreeable. 

"  In  his  conduct,  he  was  prudent  and  careful  of  his  character, 
both  as  a  minister  and  a  christian  ;  rather  sparing  of  speech,  and 
more  inclined  to  hear  and  learn  from  others. 

"  His  house  was  open  to  strangers,  and  his  heart  to  his  friends ; 
and  he  took  great  delight  in  entertaining  such,  as  he  might  any 
ways  improve  by,  and  treated  them  with  good  manners. 

"  The  languishment  and  pains  he  went  through  before  his  death 
were  very  great;  but  God  enabled  him  to  bear  the  affliction  with 
patience  and  submission. 

"He  was  interred  on  the  12th  with  great  respect  and  lamenta- 
tion, and  his  affectionate  people  were  at  the  charge  of  his  funeral; 
and  it  is  hoped  they  will  continue  their  kindness  to  the  sorrowful 
widow  and  orphans. "* 

Rev.  Robert  Breck  had  a  son  of  the  same  name,  who  was  grad- 
uated at  Harvard  University,  in  1730,  was  ordained  as  minister  of 
Springfield,  Jan.  26,  1736,  and  died  April  23,  1784,  in  the  71st  year 
of  his  age.f 

The  father  was  married  in  Sept.  1707,  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Wain- 
wright,  of  Haverhill,  who  died,  June  8,  1736.  They  had  six  chil- 
dren, two  of  whom  died  before  their  father.  Of  those  that  surviv- 
ed him,  Robert  was  minister  of  Springfield  ;  Sarah  was  married  to 
Dr.  Benjamin  Gott,  of  Marlborough  ;  Hannah  was  married  to  Rev. 
Ebenezer  Parkman,  of  Westborough  ;  Elizabeth,  the  eldest  daugh- 
ter, was  married  to   Col.  Abraham  Williams,  of  Marlborough,  and 

*  Rev.  Mr.  Breck  lived  on  or  near  the  same  spot  on  which  Rev.  Mr.  Pack- 
ard's dwelling  house  was  afterwards  erected. 

t  See  Rev.  Wm.  B.  Sprague's  Historical  Discourse,  delivered  at  West 
Springfield,  Dec.  2,  1824,  p.  78,  80. 


HISTORY  OF  NORTHBOROUGH.  65 

died  two  years  before  her  father,  Jan.  1729.  The  name  of  the  oth- 
er child  that  survived  the  father  was  Samuel,  who  was  a  surgeon 
in  the  army  during  the  French  war.  He  married  at  Springfield, 
and  died,  1764. 

The  following  account  of  the  successors  of  Rev.  Mr.  Breck,  was  fur- 
nished principally  by  Rev.  Seth  Alden,  of  Marlborough. 

After  an  interval  of  nearly  three  years  from  the  death  of  Mr, 
Breck,  viz.  Oct.  1733,  Rev.  Benjamin  Kent  was  ordained  as  the 
minister  of  Marlborough,  and  on  Feb.  4,  1735,  was  dismissed  by 
mutual  consent.  After  his  dismission,  Mr.  Kent  brought  an  action 
against  the  town  for  the  recovery  of  his  settlement,  which  the 
court  allowed  him.  The  town  appears  to  have  suffered  much 
about  this  time  from  intestine  divisions,  which  prevented  the  set- 
tlement of  a  minister  for  the  five  years  succeeding  the  dismission 
of  Mr.  Kent. 

At  length,  June  11,  1740,  Rev.  Aaron  Smith  received  ordina- 
tion, and  was  dismissed  by  reason  of  ill  heath,  April  29,  1778.  Af- 
ter his  dismission,  Mr.  Smith  went  to  reside  with  Rev.  Mr.  Bridge 
of  East  Sudbury,  who  married  his  daughter,  and  died  there. 

Rev.  Asa  Packard,  from  Bridgewater,  succeeded  him,  JJnd  was 
ordained,  March  23,  1785,  and  April  10,  1806,  was  dismissed,  in 
consequence  of  an  unhappy  division  in  the  town  relating  to  the  lo- 
cation of  a  new  church.  This  division  led  to  an  Ecclesiastical 
Council  called  by  the  Church,  which  resulted,  Oct.  24,  1806,  that 
in  case  the  minority  should  obtain  an  act  of  incorporation  as  a  dis- 
tinct society,  then,  without  breach  of  covenant,  those  members 
of  the  church  who  should  unite  themselves  with  such  Incorpora- 
tion, might  become  a  regular  and  distinct  church,  by  the  name 
of  the  West  Church  in  Marlborough. 

After  much  opposition,  such  inhabitants  did  obtain  an  act  of  in- 
corporation on  the  23d  of  Feb.  1808,  by  the  name  of  the  second 
parish  in  Marlborough  ;  and  on  the  5th  of  the  following  month,  a 
church  was  duly  ordained.  Over  this  church  and  society,  Rev. 
Asa  Packard  was  installed,  March  23,  1808,  and  remained  their 
Pastor  till  May  12,  1819,  when,  by  mutual  consent,  he  was  regu- 
larly dismissed.  Mr.  Packard  now  resides  with  his  family  in  Lan- 
caster. 

Rev.  Seth  Alden,  from  Bridgewater,  a  graduate  of  Brown  Uni- 
versity, 1814,  was  ordained  as  the  successor  of  Mr.  Packard,  Nov. 
3,  1819,  and  still  remains  their  Pastor. 

Over  the  East  Church  and  first  parish,  Rev.  Sylvester  F.  Buck- 


60  HISTORY  OF  NORTHEOKOUGH. 

lin,  from  Rehoboth.  now  Seekonk,  a  graduate  of  Brovvn  University, 
1305,  their  present  Pastor,  was  ordained,  Nov.  2,  1808. 

Besides  the  two  Congregational  Societies  above  mentioned, 
there  is  a  society  of  Universalists  in  the  town,  without  a  stated 
Pastor,  and  a  small  society  of  Methodists.  The  person  at  present 
preaching  with  the  former  is  Massena  B.  Ballou  ;  with  the  latter, 
Jared  Haskins. 


The  preceding  sketches  have  been  made  up  from  materials  col- 
lected from  various  sources.  The  aged  fathers  of  this  and  some 
of  the  neighboring  towns  have  been  consulted  as  opportunity  offer- 
ed ;  and  several  of  the  descendants  of  the  early  settlers  of  Marl- 
borough, have  kindly  furnished  many  valuable  papers  relating  to 
the  events  of  former  days,  and  which  have  been  handed  down  irom 
father  to  son,  for  three  or  four  successive  generations.  The  writ- 
er would  particularly  acknowledge  his  obligations  to  Rev.  Messrs. 
Bucklin  and  Alden,  for  the  aid  they  have  rendered  him  ;  as  also  to 
Mr.  Silas  Gates  for  the  use  of  the  copious  and  very  valuable  records 
in  his  possession,  inherited  through  his  wife  (daughter  of  the  late 
George  Williams)  from  her  grandfather  Col.  Abraham  Williams, 
who,  for  many  years,  was  the  clerk  of  the  proprietors  of  the  En- 
glish Plantation  of  Marlborough. 

The  writer  has  also  had  opportunity  to  consult  the  books  of 
records  of  the  proprietors  of  the  Indian  Plantation,  now  in  the  pos- 
session of  Mr.  John  Weeks. 

He  has  aimed  at  accuracy  ;  but  fears,  where  so  much  rests  on 
mere  tradition,  or  memory  not  less  treacherous,  that  many  errors 
besides  those  of  the  press,  have  become  incorporated  in  the  his- 
tory.    For  these  he  craves  the  indulgence  of  his  readers. 


ERRATA. 

Page  11,  end  of  first  paragraph — The  new  meeting  house  was  erected  in 
J  805,  the  old  one  taken  down  in  1809  :  page  15,  22d  line  from  top,  for  Doches- 
ter  read  Dorchester  ;  page  25,  20th  line  from  top,  for  Asa  Goodenow  read 
Thomas  Goodenow  ;  page  26,  9lh  line,  for  Pond  read  Road  ;  page  27,  1st 
line,  for  Marlborough  read  Northborough ;  on  the  same  page,  the  2d  para- 
graph of  the  note  should  be  in  the  place  of  the  first,  and  for  Simon  read  Sime- 
on ;  page  28,  1st  line  of  the  note,  for  persons  read  garrison  ;  page  39,  in  4th 
line  of  2d  note,  for  Simeon  read  Simon  ;  page  43,  in  3d  note,  read,  James  and 
John  Eager  were  sons,  and  Cutler  and  Martyn  sons-in-law  of  John  Eager,  Jr. 
and  grandsons  of  Capt.  John  Eager. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
BERKELEY 


Return  to  desk  from  which  borrowed. 
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